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April 25th, 2014
How fast can a human shoot a revolver? The legendary Jerry Miculek answers that question in this video. Using his new, 9mm model 929 revolver, Jerry shoots 16 shots in 4.01 seconds, with a reload*. His splits between shots were running 0.16-0.17 seconds. That works out to a peak rate of fire of 353 rounds per minute, faster than some early-era machine guns. Even counting his reloads, his sustained rate of fire would be 239 rounds per minute, faster than a 19th-century Gatling gun. Note: If you are attending the NRA Annual Meetings in Indianapolis this weekend, you can meet Jerry Miculek at the Hornady booth (#6361) on Friday or Saturday at 4:00 PM.
| 16 shots w reload |
Split Times |
Peak Rate of Fire |
Sustained Rate of Fire |
| 4.01 seconds |
0.16-0.17 seconds |
353 rds per min |
239 rds per min |
Smith & Wesson 929 Eight-shot Revolver, Jerry Miculek Edition
Jerry really likes his JM Signature Edition model 629 revolver. Produced by the S&W Custom Shop, this 9mm handgun features a ported, broach-cut barrel plus a titanium cylinder. Jerry says the low-mass titanium cylinder reciprocates very fast, making for a responsive rapid-fire revolver.
*This was time on target. Total time including initial reaction time was 4.88 seconds.
April 23rd, 2014
 Congrats to Taran Butler, who won the Open Division title at the USPSA Multi-Gun National Championships held last week at the Desert Sportsman’s Range outside Las Vegas. Butler also won this event in 2012, becoming the first person in history to win all three USPSA Multi-Gun divisions: Open, Tactical, and Limited. This year, Taran packed some serious firepower, with extra-long magazines for both carbine and shotgun. Shown below is the rig Taran used to win the 2012 Open Class Nationals. Taran reports: “This is a custom AR that TTI built with parts from Vltor, LaRue, PRI, Surefire, Noveske, Trijicon, and JP. Its called the Taran Tactical Innovations 17″ Signature Series Rifle. The optics I use are the Trijicon TR24R 1-4 power and the RMR. This is by far the fastest optic setup on the planet.”
In this video, Taran talks about multi-gun competition and how he maintains his drive to win even after having a bad stage. Top competitors like Taran are able to stay focused and come from behind to win.
Taran Butler Talks about the Multi-Gun Game
When he’s not competing at matches, or testing products for Taran Tactical Innovations, Butler works as a firearms expert in Southern California. He often works with celebrities, training Hollywood stars for action movie roles. Here he is with leading man Johnny Depp and songstress/actress Rihanna.
April 20th, 2014
 Just for your Easter entertainment, we have an answer to the burning question: “How many Peeps does it take to stop a round fired from a .50 BMG?” Watch the video below to find the surprising answer. As one wag noted, shooting Peeps “sure beats eating them!”.
This light-hearted Easter video was created by Richard Ryan, producer of Rated RR, a popular YouTube Channel featuring trick shots and pyrotechnics. This video actually has some pretty impressive high speed photography. Along with the Peeps shots, you’ll see Chocolate Bunnies blasted (1:05 time-mark), and paint-filled eggs drilled — all in super-slow motion. Grins are guaranteed.
April 8th, 2014
The NRA Outdoors Long Range Hunting/Shooting School returns to the Queen Mountain Ranch in Evanston, Wyoming for three sessions (two in May and one in June). The Long Range Hunting One course teaches proven long range shooting techniques for long-range hunters. There are still a few spots offered for the May sessions, and a June session just openeed. Cost of the class, which includes meals and accommodation, is $2,000.
Video Shows 2013 Long Range Hunting/Shooting School
The Course will cover: Ammo selection, Range Estimation, Zeroing, Ballistics, Effects of Weather, Reading the Wind, MOA and other Reticle Calibration, Bullet placement on big game for high kill percentage, Alternate Shooting Positions, trigger control, Spotter Skills, When to engage a moving target. The course will also cover some general topics, such as: Firearms maintenance, Range Safety, Rifle Building, and Scope Theory.
“The success of the first NRA Outdoors Long Range Hunting/Shooting School was a result of the combination of our excellent instructors [and] the first-class facilities at the Queen Mountain Ranch that made this class unlike anything else in the industry and a must for any serious western big-game hunter and shooter,” said NRA Outdoors President Greg Ray. The course offers access to a wide variety of terrain from the base location of Queen Mountain Ranch: “We have 1 million acres of terrain spread out over Wyoming and nearby Utah. We have all the angles covered: high desert, mountains, cross canyon and all points in between.”
 Available Course Dates
May 22-25 (1 spot open) (2 days of instruction)
May 26-29 (3 spots open) (2 days of instruction)
June 19-22 (14 spots open) (2 days of instruction)
Exact curriculum will be provided before the school starts along with the announcement on details of a shooting competition (at the request of 2013 students) at the end of the course!
Course fee of $2000.00 per student includes:
Airport Pickup (Salt Lake City)
Lodging at Queen Mountain Ranch
All Meals
Majority of optics gear
2 days of instruction
March 28th, 2014
Report Based on Story by Lars Dalseide in NRABlog.com
This story is for the female shooters out there. Ever think about becoming an NRA Certified Instructor? You can make that happen at this year’s NRA Convention in Indianapolis. Starting on Friday, April 25th, the first day of the Annual Meetings & Exhibits, a few dozen ladies will gather at the Indiana Convention Center for a 3-day NRA Pistol Instructor course. All the instructors are women. The entire course runs $250. That covers the course materials, range use, firearm use, ammunition and range equipment.
  After all is said and done, you will be required to demonstrate solid and safe pistol handling skills and successfully complete qualification exercises as well as receive the endorsement of the NRA Training Counselor conducting the course. Accomplish that and you will become an NRA-certified pistol instructor. To learn more the NRA female instructor development program, contact Diane Danielson at femaleinstructors@nrahq.org or 703-267-3999 for an application. CLICK HERE for more details.
In this video, Tatiana Whitlock talks about becoming an NRA Certified Instructor (1:40 time mark). Tatiana is also a martial arts expert, who favors the Israeli Krav Maga self-defense system.
NRA Instructor Tatiana Whitlock Show Her Skills with Firearms and Martial Arts
March 25th, 2014
Forum member Stan from Northern California (aka BigBamBoo) has produced a cool video showing a 1000-yard shooting session with his Surgeon Rifles .243 Win. As he shot prone from bipod, Stan filmed with two cameras, one aimed at the shooter and the other zoomed way out at the target 1000 yards away. Using frame in frame editing, Stan combined the two camera viewpoints so you can watch his trigger-pulling and simultaneously see what’s happening downrange. Stan hits steel five times in a row.
 If you listen carefully, you can hear the steel ring about three seconds after each shot (it takes that long for the sound to travel back). On a couple shots you’ll see dust kick up at the side of the target — but that’s not a miss. Remember his bullet is impacting on steel and what you’re seeing is dust kicked up on ricochet by a bullet fragment.
The main purpose of Stan’s shooting session was to evaluate a new Badger FTE muzzle brake. Watch the video and you can see that the big brake dramatically reduces both rearward movement and bipod hop. Stan was very happy with the brake’s effectiveness, as it allows him to keep his scope on target, and cycle quickly for the next shot. Stan reports: “Just keep an eye on the rifle. Watch the recoil — it’s greatly reduced with the muzzle brake. Makes spotting my shots very easy.”
LOAD: Lapua .243 Winchester brass, Sierra 107gr MatchKings, Wolf LR primers, 40.1 grains of H4350 powder.
Stan posts: “I recently sent my Surgeon Scalpel in .243 back to Surgeon to have a Badger FTE muzzle brake installed. Got a chance between rain storms to get to the range and do some shooting. As you can hear in the video…the wind was blowing pretty hard. But that just adds to the fun of shooting at long range. Turn up the volume and you should be able to hear the five hits on steel. If you set the playback resolution to 480p or better and go ‘full screen’, you should be able to see most of the hits.”
Why is the Sound of the Hit Delayed So Long?
The speed of sound at sea level, in dry 59° air, is 1116 fps. With the steel target 3000 feet (1000 yards) away, it takes 3000/1116 or 2.69 seconds for the sound of each hit to reach the shooter.
March 22nd, 2014
Ever wondered how Hornady bullets and ammunition are made? You’ll see every stage of production in this interesting video from the Outdoor Channel. Starting with raw materials (lead, copper, and brass), this 9-minute “factory tour” video shows how bullet cores are produced, how jackets are crafted, and how cartridge cases are formed, headstamped, and inspected. If you watch carefully you’ll also see the massive, multi-stage cartridge loading machines. Now one of the most successful manufacturers of ammunition and reloading components in the world, Hornady Manufacturing has come a long way from its early days. In 1949, Founder Joyce Hornady started the company “making bullets… in a garage down on 4th street” in Grand Island, Nebraska.
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Lead cylinders are pressed into lead wire used for bullet cores.
Spools of flat copper are fed into cupping machines. The punched cups become bullet jackets.
All cartridge cases and loaded rounds are hand-inspected.
Hornady Manufacturing — The Early Years
During World War II, Joyce Hornady served as a marksmanship instructor at the Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant. Following the War, Joyce and his family stayed in Grand Island, Nebraska and opened a small sporting goods retail store that sold everything from basketballs to shooting supplies.
After WWII, shooters and hunters used surplus military ammunition. This surplus ammo however, did not offer the accuracy or performance needed for target shooting, big game, or varmint hunting. Recognizing the need for better bullets, Hornady and his original partner Vernon Speer built a machine that converted spent 22 rimfire cases into bullet jackets, and then into bullets. The business relationship between Hornady and Speer later faltered, and Vernon Speer moved to Lewiston, Idaho. Using a surplus bullet assembly press in a rented garage on 4th Street in Grand Island, Nebraska, Joyce Hornady began to produce his own .30-caliber bullet.
The first year of business, Hornady Bullets had total sales of $10,000 – a figure that increased three-fold the next year. Hornady added equipment and workers, confident that more growth lay ahead. During the Korean War, Hornady earned contracts to produce a variety of products not associated with bullets — aluminum hearts for bracelets, and condenser cans for the government. After the war, the can material and the technology developed to produce them was utilized to make ultra-thin copper jackets for varmint bullets.
In 1958, the company moved to its present location on the west edge of Grand Island. The new, larger facility featured an 8,000-square-foot plant. In 1960, Hornady added a 200-yard underground testing facility.
March 20th, 2014
Now in its fifth year, the Northeast Regional Field Target Championship (NRFTC) is the country’s largest regional championship with nearly 100 shooters participating in nine shooting disciplines. Open to professionals, amateurs and families, the NRFTC offers a challenging yet forgiving shooting course in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of New York. The event will be held on the Crosman Corporation campus in Bloomfield, NY from July 11-13, 2014. NOTE: Pre-registration closes June 1 when the match fees increase from $50 to $60.
CLICK HERE for Online Registration, Event Rules, and Lodging Options..
“Spots are limited, so please register soon,” says Mark DeBoard, Shooting Services Manager for Crosman. “Field target is a fun event for all skill levels. Participants will benefit by shooting alongside members of Team USA and other [top shooters] from across the country.
The event runs under American Airgun Field Target Association rules. Field target competitors attempt to knock down a variety of steel targets set at distances ranging from 15 to 50 yards. “Shooting is truly a level playing field, making it a great family experience. Age, height, and weight don’t offer any advantages, so we see both adults and youth performing at high levels,” says DeBoard.
Field Target Competition Explained — Video from 2013 World Championship
March 19th, 2014
A large contingent of the Scottish rifle team came to Sacramento, California last week for the 23rd Annual American-Canadian and Long Range matches. A great time was had by all. Members of the U.S. Long Range Rifle team say: “Thank you for making the journey over and we hope to see you all again this fall at Camp Perry and/or Canada Nationals.”
Click Photo for Full-screen View
 Congratulations to Scottish Team member Ian Shaw for winning the American-Canadian Full Bore Match! Here is Ian celebrating his victory with his winning mug. We met with Ian in February after the Berger Southwest Nationals. At the Phoenix airport, this Editor shared a quick meal with Ian and two of his Team London-Scottish comrades before the trio jetted home across the Atlantic.
As we chatted, I quickly learned how serious and dedicated these guys are. It’s no surprise to me that Ian took the top prize at the American-Canadian match. During our airport interview, Ian talked about target rifle shooting in the UK, and he invited American full-bore shooters to attend the Queen’s Prize Match held each year during the Imperial Meeting at the Bisley Range. Ian said, “Tell your American readers to come. This is a big match every year, with 900 competitors, about 700 of whom are from the UK.” Here’s a video explaining the history of the Queen’s Prize Match.
History of the Queen’s Prize Match (BBC, 1986)
H.M. The Queen’s Prize
The Queen’s Prize Match was first shot in 1860 when the Sovereign (Queen Victoria) gave a prize of £250 for the winner. This amount has remained unchanged to this day although in the original days, it was a considerable sum. The winner earns the right to have the initials ‘GM’ after his or her name. As detailed in the section below, there are three stages to the competition, the winners of the second stage earn the initials ‘SM’. The final stage is shot on the last Saturday of the NRA Imperial meeting held in July.
Photos from U.S. Long Range Rifle Team.
March 18th, 2014
In the video below, California State Senator Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) advocates anti-gun legislation at a press conference. Sen. de León makes a series of blunders and mistakes. He confuses magazine capacity with the rifle’s bore size, referring to “.30 caliber” when in fact the gun is a .223/5.56mm. He then says it “has the ability with a 30-caliber clip [sic] to disperse with 30 bullets within half a second. Thirty magazine clip [sic] in half a second”. We think Sen. de León means that the gun fires 30 rounds in 0.5 seconds, but even that is preposterous — as legendary shooter Jerry Miculek recently demonstrated.
 Miculek Tries to Shoot 30 Rounds in Half a Second with .30-Caliber Magazine Clip
Jerry Miculek watched Senator de León’s press conference — but Jerry was confused by the politician’s reference to a .30-caliber magazine clip. But being a fierce competitor, Jerry was intrigued by the idea of a gun that could shoot 30 rounds in half a second — such a weapon could improve his split times considerably Jerry figured. So, with a rubber band and a little duct tape, Jerry assembled a “.30-caliber magazine clip” and then tried it out in his AR15. Hoping to achieve de León’s promised 30 rounds in 0.5 seconds, Jerry gave it a go.
Pulling the trigger as fast as he could, Jerry managed to put 4 rounds on target in half a second. That’s a far cry from 30 rounds in half a second (3600 rounds per minute). Jerry observes: “Apparently the enhancement of the .30-caliber clip on the magazine didn’t make me a better shooter so I’m kind of disappointed.”
After this little exercise, Jerry cautions that we should be wary of politicians who may make factually incorrect claims about firearms. “Being a gun enthusiast, when I hear politicians talk about firearms, I listen with an open ear. So I really paid attention to this individual and what he was trying to say. He referred to a .30-caliber magazine clip — so I tried to assemble all that just the way I heard it.”
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