At the 2010 SHOT Show, we had the unique opportunity to corner three “superstars” of High Power shooting, and solicit their wind-reading secrets. In the three videos below (in alphabetical order), Carl Bernosky (9-Time Nat’l High Power Champion), David Tubb (11-time Nat’l High Power Champion and 7-time Nat’l Long -Range Champion), and John Whidden (2-Time Nat’l High Power Long-Range Champion) shared some of the wind-doping strategies that have carried them to victory in the nation’s most competitive shooting matches. This is GOLD folks… no matter what your discipline — be it short-range Benchrest or Long-Range High Power — watch these videos for valuable insights that can help you shoot more accurately, and post higher scores, in all wind conditions.
We were very fortunate to have these three extraordinarily gifted champions reveal their “winning ways”. These guys REALLY know their stuff. I thought to myself: “Wow, this is how a baseball fan might feel if he could assemble Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Ted Williams in the same room, and have them each reveal their hitting secrets.” Editor’s Note: These interviews were conducted before Bernosky and Tubb won their most recent National Championships so the introductions may list a lower number of titles won.
Paul Markel, a firearms instructor who hosts the Student of the Gun cable series, has released a new instructional guide in e-Reader formats (HTML, Kindle, ePUB, PDF). Plain text and RTF versions are also available for most word processing programs.
Markel’s new Student of the Gun eBook contains advice for both new gun owners and experienced shooters. The text draws on Markel’s experience as U.S. Marine, Police Officer, Bodyguard, and Firearms Instructor. Over the past two decades, Markel has trained thousands of shooters. He is also a seasoned writer who has penned numerous articles and reviews for Shooting Sports and Law Enforcement periodicals.
Just $9.99 with Free Partial Samples
The eBook costs $9.99, but here’s the good part — you can download 5% of the book as a free HTML sample to read with your web browser. This new eBook is available for immediate download to your laptop, Kindle, Nook, iPad and other book readers. Download from Smashwords.com.
Student of the Gun TV Changes Channels
In related news, Paul Markel’s Student of the Gun TV Show is switching networks. Leaving the Pursuit Channel, the popular show moves to The Sportsman Channel, where it will air weekly, starting December 26th, 2011.
Paul Markel, the show’s host stated: “We are tremendously grateful for the support we received from our original channel. But the move to the Sportsman Channel gives us the opportunity for greater growth and the ability to reach more American shooters.” Check with your local cable provider for broadcast times. Watch a YouTube preview below.
Here’s a clever product that provides visual feedback of your aim on the target while you dry-fire. LaserLyte, makers of laser pistol sights and bore-sighting tools, has come up with a smart new application of a miniature laser system. The new caliber-specific Laser Trainer Cartridge fits inside the pistol chamber and features a firing-pin activated switch that indicates bullet impact with a bright red laser dot. To practice, simply cock the hammer or striker, and pull the trigger as you would normally. When the firing pin hits the Laser Trainer Cartridge, a bright red laser displays on your target for 100 milliseconds. Available for 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP, the $99.95 (MSRP) Laser Training Cartridges are rimless so you can work the slide without ejecting the Laser Cartridges.
With a Laser Trainer Cartridge in the chamber of your 9mm, .40 S&W, or .45 ACP pistol, you can practice your trigger pull and sight acquisition. But unlike traditional dry-firing, you can see your point of aim when you “break the shot”. This modified cartridge is rimless, so the Laser Trainer Cartridge is not expelled during dry fire, which allows for tap, rack, bang or malfunction training drills. A hardened rubber plunger on the laser also acts as a built-in snap cap to protect the firing pin. The Laser Trainer Cartridge requires three #377 batteries, good for approximately 3,000 shots. For more info on Laser Training Cartridges visit LaserLyte.com.
Legendary pistol and 3-Gun shooter Jerry Miculek stars in a great instructional DVD set from Brownell’s. The 3-Disc DVD set, “Jerry Miculek Practical Rifle”, shows Jerry working his magic with AR-platform carbines. This DVD set is available from Brownells.com (item 100-004-974) and from Jerry’s website.
The Jerry Miculek Practical Rifle DVDs cover every aspect of shooting the AR-15 in multi-gun matches — from the basics of stance, grip, trigger control, all the way to advanced shooting techniques. Specific topics covered include: 1) Setting up your rifle; 2) Stance grip and trigger technique; 3) Acquiring targets more quickly; 4) Shooting on the move; 5) Shooting multiple and moving targets; 6) Shooting behind cover; 7) Reloads and malfunction drills. Along with the instructional demos, the DVD provides basic and advanced drills that viewers can use to improve their shooting speed and accuracy.
The Miculek Practical Rifle DVD comes in a 3-Disc set. Disc One covers gun set-up and hardware selection (trigger, barrel, optics). Disc Two covers shooting technique — stance, position, weight distribution, target acquisition and other gun-handling skills. Disc Three is the “Application” — Jerry shoots typical courses of fire, showing how to engage various types and locations of targets with maximum efficiency.
We predict serious multi-gun shooters will add this DVD set to their libraries. Produced entirely at Brownell’s studios in partnership with Jerry Miculek’s Bang Inc., the complete 3-Disc set runs 2 hours and 17 minutes. Each Disc features multiple camera angles (including “shooters’ eye view” through the optic), slow motion footage, and animated illustrations.
Check out this video of a young German hunter, Franz Albrecht Öttingen-Spielberg. Shooting off-hand with a Sauer 202 bolt action, he makes multiple kills on wild boar running at full speed. Half way through the video, a pack of boar crosses right to left, running fast. You need slow motion to see all Franz’s hits as he engages one animal after another. He doesn’t hit with every shot, but a quick count shows that nearly half his shots, fired rapid-fire from a standing position, were solid takedowns. Notice how Franz “leads” his prey, moving the muzzle from right to left along the animals’ path.
Slow-Mo Video Reveals Knock-Down Power of 7mm Rem Magnum
Near the beginning of the video, slow-motion footage reveals bullet trace, and the bullet’s impact on a running boar. The shot takes the boar right at the top of the shoulder and the animal goes down in a heap. This is impressive shooting. The video shows what is possible with a skilled marksmen, a powerful cartridge (7mm Rem Magnum), and an accurate, smooth-cycling bolt gun.
Mike of CS Tactical has released a good video review of the Vortex Viper PST 4-16×50 FFP (first focal plane) rifle scope. Mike praised many of the scope’s features, and he believes it is a good value for the money (about $850.00 street price.)
The Viper PST 4-16×50 PST (Precision Shooting Tactical) FFP riflescope offers a lot of features for the money, including low-dispersion XD Glass, glass-etched illuminated reticle, ArmorTeck scratch-resistant, anti-reflective lens coatings, and a zero-stop turret system. Vortex delivers all this with a street price around $850.00. The hard-anodized one-piece 30mm tube, machined from 6061-T6 aluminum, offers ample adjustment — 21 millirads both elevation and windage. First Focal Plane subtensions remain consistent throughout the magnification range — that’s important if you use the scope to range objects at unknown distances. Vortex claims its argon-filled scope is waterproof, shockproof, and fogproof (O-ring seals prevent moisture, dust, and debris from getting inside the tube). The 4-16×50 PST comes fully equipped with 4-inch sunshade, CR2032 battery, and CRS shims.
Vortex 4-16x50mm PST Specifications
Magnification: 4-16X
Objective Lens Diameter 50 mm
Eye Relief: 4 inches
Field of View: 27.4-7.4 feet/100 yards
Tube Size: 30 mm
Turret Style: Tall Uncapped – CSR Zero Stop
Reticle: Milrad type in First Focal Plane (FFP)
Adjustment Graduation: 0.1 mrad
Max Elevation Adjustment: 21 mrads
Max Windage Adjustment: 21 mrads
Parallax Setting: 50 yards to infinity
Length: 13.7 inches
Weight: 22 ounces
Story by Chad Adams for3GunNation.com Blog
Eight Multi-Gun Competitors will be competing for the $50,000 top prize at the 3-Gun Nation (3GN) Championship in Las Vegas on January 18, 2012 (during SHOT Show Week). Eight competitors punched their tickets to Las Vegas for the 3-Gun Nation Finale by winning elimination matches held at Peacemaker National Training Center (Glengary, WV) earlier this month. The winner of the 3GN Shoot-Off Finale will receive a huge payday — $50,000 from Leupold Tactical Optics and NBC Sports.
Rustin Bernskoetter, Taran Butler, Jeff Cramblit, Mark Hanish, Tyler Payne, Phil Strader,Tommy Thacker, and Mike Voigt all qualified for the 3GN Shoot-Off Finale via wins during the elimination round. Thacker was paired against current 3GN Champion Dan Horner of the USAMU. Horner finished the course faster, but the young soldier later conceded the match to Thacker after footage showed that Horner had failed to knock down one of the targets. In another notable one-on-one 3GN elimination at Peacemaker NTC, our buddy Taran Butler knocked off legendary Jerry Miculek. Anytime Jerry Miculek doesn’t make it into the finals, you know the competition is tough.
The road to the 3GN Championship began last September, as competitors have compiled series points at major 3-gun matches across the country. The top 64 competitors were invited to compete in the 3GN Championship Match (at Peacemaker NTC), a one-day Tactical Optics event that featured four stages of fire—each with all three guns.
In what most are calling the deepest 3-gun field ever assembled, the top 16 advanced into the Shoot-Off elimination round. Now the Las Vegas eight will compete for the highest cash payout in the history of the sport, with $50,000 going to the 3-Gun Nation Champion, courtesy of Leupold and NBC Sports. To learn more about 3-Gun competition, watch the video below in which Jerry Miculek, Mike Voigt, and Maggie Reese discuss the 3-Gun Nation shoot-off and the struggles of head-to-head competition.
Need a fun and entertaining break from boring parade broadcasts, and post-feast kitchen duties? Then tune your TVs to the Discovery Channel tonight. At 8:00 PM Eastern, the Discovery Channel (and Discovery’s Science Channel) devote a full hour to America’s wildest display of agricultural artillery — Punkin Chunkin. Discovery’s hour-long special (repeated at 9:00 pm tonight) covers the 2011 World Punkin Chunkin Championship. This fun-filled event, held in Delaware each November, draws up to 70,000 spectators, raising money for charity. For the first time, the Punkin Chunkin special is hosted by Tory Bellici, Kari Byron and Grant Imhara from Mythbusters. View Chunkin Cannons Gallery.
At the annual Punkin Chunkin event, teams challenge each other to see how far they can fling a pumpkin, using some amazing contraptions — giant crossbows, Trebuchets, spinning turntables, and gigantic air cannons with 100-foot-long barrels. For the chunkin machine-builders, this is serious business. Many teams work all year on their entries. Tune in tonight to view the spectacle. Believe it or not, the largest air cannons have shot pumpkins over 5,000 feet — nearly one mile.
OK, you’re feelin’ fat and happy after the traditional Thanksgiving Day feast and you need to kill some time. Sure you could rake the leaves or wash the dishes, but why not have some mindless fun targeting turkeys with this online video game? Be forewarned, this Turkey Shoot Game starts pretty easy, but those gobblers get sneakier as you move up in levels. Also — you can take your time and still get through the first five levels, just try to avoid misses.
For more fun, use the up/down and left/right keys on your keyboard to move around the 3D forest and sneak up on the gobblers hiding behind the bushes. Have fun, and enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday!
The NRA, with sponsorship from Brownells, has crafted a Veterans’ Day web video that covers the experience of a WWII American soldier. World War II paratrooper Walter Hughes was only 18 years old when he jumped behind enemy lines in Holland, during Operation Market Garden. In this Veterans Day tribute video, Walter shares his experience from the Battle of the Bulge – the largest and bloodiest battle for American forces in WWII. CLICK HERE to Watch Special Presentation — Veteran’s Memories.
Paul Markel, a firearms instructor who hosts the 
Student of the Gun TV Changes Channels
Rustin Bernskoetter, Taran Butler, Jeff Cramblit, Mark Hanish, Tyler Payne, Phil Strader,Tommy Thacker, and Mike Voigt all qualified for the 3GN Shoot-Off Finale via wins during the elimination round. Thacker was paired against current 3GN Champion Dan Horner of the USAMU. Horner finished the course faster, but the young soldier later conceded the match to Thacker after footage showed that Horner had failed to knock down one of the targets. In another notable one-on-one 3GN elimination at Peacemaker NTC, our buddy Taran Butler knocked off legendary Jerry Miculek. Anytime Jerry Miculek doesn’t make it into the finals, you know the competition is tough.
