California maintains some of the toughest firearms laws in the country. In most California counties, it is virtually impossible to get a permit for concealed carry. Handguns are subject to long waiting periods, and many perfectly reliable handguns are banned from sale in California.
Each year the situation gets worse, with new laws enacted that further restrict the rights of Californians to defend themselves and their homes. Recently, the California State Senate approved AB 144, a bill that would dismantle Californian’s long-standing right of “open carry”. If AB 144 is signed by Governor Jerry Brown, this will make open carry a crime — even when camping or hiking.
What will happen to California gun owners if current trends continue? Will citizens of the Golden State be able to protect themselves in their own homes? Well this video answers those questions. The video is a dramatization, but it shows what could happen if California’s anti-gun legislators continue to hold sway. Watch the video to see a chilling preview of gun ownership in California.
The gyro-stabilized two-wheeled Segway was supposed to revolutionize personal transportation. That may never happen (mall cops excepted), but remote-controlled Segways just might revolutionize the way military and police personnel train for urban engagements.
Robotic Segway “Smart Targets” for Live-Fire Training
An Australian company, Marathon Robotics, has created wheeled robot targets — remote-controlled Segways fitted with target silhouettes. The Segway Robots can move and respond like humans, ducking into doorways, or dispersing at the sound of gunfire. This provides challenging, ultra-realistic training for military and police sharp-shooters. This is not just science fiction. Australian Special Forces units already train in a mock urban center populated with Marathon’s rolling robots. And the U.S. Marine Corps has hired Marathon to create a similar robot-equipped, live-fire training venue.
Marathon combined computer gaming technology with armored, remote-controlled Segways to create the ultimate 21st century moving target. The lower halves of the Segways are armor-plated, so the expensive electronic innards don’t get damaged by an errant shot. On top is mounted a replica human torso. The torso section can be clothed to distinguish “civilians” from military targets, or to distinguish terrorists from hostages.
Marathon’s sophisticated software can control multiple Segway Robots at the same time. A group of Segways can be programmed to mimic a squad on patrol, or a group of terrorists holding hostages. The control software allows autonomous or “intelligent” behavior by the Segway Robots. For example, the Segways can disperse automatically at the sound of a gunshot, and the Segways can be trained to seek cover in hallways or behind objects. Importantly, the Segway Robots are capable of human-like movement — they can stop quickly, turn 360° and retreat slowly, or accelerate to a human running pace. Marathon’s Segway Robots are equipped with laser range finders so they can avoid running into obstacles, including people on the move. The “Segbots” lean forward slightly as they walk forward, like people do.
To really understand how the Robotic Smart Targets work, watch this amazing video:
Bushnell recently released its new Fusion 1600 ARC range-finding binoculars. With a “low street price” under $799.00, Bushnell’s 1600 ARC binoculars are less than one third the price of Leica Geovids (10×42, $2399.00) or Zeiss Victory RF Binoculars (10×45, $2,799.00).
That huge price advantage makes the Fusion very tempting — but can Bushnell’s 1600 ARC binos perform as advertised?
Forum Member Reviews Fusion 1600 ARC
Forum Member Stan (aka BigBamBoom) acquired the Fusion 1600 ARC RF binoculars and has posted a video review. Stan was favorably impressed with the quality of the glass and the exterior ruggedness of the unit. He was able to range very large objects (water-tower, trees) beyond 1200 yards. He also praised the speed of the unit, saying it ranged faster than his Leica CRF 1200. Consider however, that the very small CRF1200 is harder to aim precisely, simply because it is so small and light and held in a vertical orientation. Most people can aim the larger, heavier LRFs with more steadiness using a normal two-handed horizontal grip. In the real world, if you can hold the LRF more steady, you can get a true range on a small object more quickly.
Don’t Expect to Range a WhiteTail at 1600 yards
We also caution that, in our Laser rangefinder comparison tests, we learned that there is BIG difference between ranging a water tower, and ranging a deer-sized animal. We found that some units that could range a water tower at 1300+ yards could NOT reliably range an actual deer (stuffed by taxidermist) at 700 yards. Note that Bushnell lists three different effective ranging distances for the Fusion 1600, and Bushnell claims only 500-yard effectiveness on deer-sized objects. This is fairly consistent with our LRF comparison tests:
It can be fun to range buildings at a mile, but for the hunter, that may not have much practical utility. You want to be able to range deer-sized game at all practical distances. For the tactical shooter, you need a narrowly focused beam (with minimal beam divergence) that can range a gong or metallic silhouette reliably at 1000 yards. If an LRF can’t do that, it may not be all that useful, even if it the sales price is attractive. Fusion 1600 ARC Features
The 10×42 roof prism binoculars feature built-in battery life indicator, twist-up eye pieces, and multi-coated optics with RainGuard. The Fusion 1600 is fully waterproof and submersible, meeting IPX7 “waterproof” specification. As Stan observed, the Fusion 1600 has good glass, and the red readouts are easy to see. Bushnell employs Vivid Display Technology™ (with four display brightness settings) to enhance display readability in all lighting conditions.
The built-in laser rangefinder features ARC (Angle Range Compensating) technology, which calculates the angle to the target (-90 to +90 degrees). ARC also and gives the hold-over range for the rifle shooter, and true horizontal distance for bow hunters. We like the fact that you can choose between Inches and MOA for holdover. There is a brush mode for measuring distances in heavy cover and a bullseye mode for ranging in open areas. The brush mode can filter out false returns from closer objects. This IS a useful feature that actually does work.
The Fusion 1600 ARC laser rangefinder binoculars come with battery, neck-strap, and carrying case. MSRP is $899.00. It pays to shop around as we’ve seen advertised prices from $789.00 to $899.00. For more info, visit www.bushnell.com or call 800-423-3537 for consumer inquiries.
Forum member Lee G. (aka ‘SkeetLee’) has built a fully enclosed, 4-season shoot house with loading area. The new shoot house, located on his parents’ farm, will make most readers envious. The quality of the slab and the framing is a far sight better than what you’ll find in many tract houses. SkeetLee has experience in concrete work and construction and he did a beautiful job on his new facility, which combines a large reloading area with two concrete benches facing out to a 200-yard range. The insulated shoot house will be heated in winter, allowing year-round shooting.
Construction Planning and Progress
SkeetLee tells us: “We added 16′ to the back of the machine shop on one of our farms so I could have a place to practice my shooting. Everything worked out real well because exactly 200 yards out from the new addition is a low spot in the field that doesn’t produce any crop anyway, so we thought this would be a good spot for a berm. I started building the berm this spring before the crop got planted and it is about 60% complete. I am very lucky to have such a place to do all this, and I will be forever indebted to my folks for letting me build this range and loading/shoot room. This range is a gift to me from my folks, and I am very grateful.”
SkeetLee will be using the new shoot house very soon: “I finally have the room at least 95% done. It took the better part of the year to complete and there is still some work to do to the berm once the corn [comes] down next week, but the shoot house is darn near ready for some banging.”
Below are the two benches in progress. SkeetLee set the block in mortar then formed the tops in place with some “T” supports to hold the forms up. He used an 8″ sona tube for the rear leg, then added Re-Bar for reinforcement. It worked out really really well as you can see in the bottom photo.
Shoot House Permits Year-Round Shooting
SkeetLee notes: “This winter when the snow is flying we can stay warm and shoot until our finger(s) get sore. I also look forward to entertaining some guests.” To give our readers a better view of the interior of his shoot house, SkeetLee recorded a two-part video. Part Two is embedded below, and you can CLICK HERE for Part One.
David Tubb Won the Long-Range National Championship today, shoting a perfect 45 for 45 inside the 10-Ring during today’s Individual Palma Trophy Match. Tubb’s impressive performance secured David the 2011 Long Range High Power Rifle Championship, edging out 2010 LR Champion John Whidden. We believe this is David’s seventh individual long-range title. Tubb last won the Long-Range Championship in 2004, when he shot an “perfect” 1450-101X Aggregate, not dropping a point. Tubb has also won the NRA High Power National Championship 11 times.
Tubb Wins Title, Not Yielding to Whidden’s Strong Challenge
As he took his spot in the final round of the Palma Match, Tubb was stationed to the right of last year’s Long Range champ and 2011 runner-up John Whidden. Whidden, donning his favorite red cap, started with two well-placed sighting shots at 1,000 yards before jumping into the scoring phrase of the match. Tubb, waiting for the wind and that instinctive feeling that’s developed over time, took his first sighter after Whidden started scoring tens.
“Ten” shouted Whidden’s spotter. “X” rang out next. The race was on.
Tubb’s spotter echoed his counterpart’s calls with Tens and Xs of his own. But Whidden had the advantage … he was two shots ahead and two points behind. Scoring ten after ten after X, Whidden was applying the pressure to Tubb as he mounted a final charge. There was even a moment when The Pit mistakenly pulled Tubb’s target as he was about to fire. If there was ever an opportunity for a man to feel the pressure — this was it. I don’t know about the shooters, when when Whidden hit his 13th shot inside the ten ring, my heard started to pump a little bit faster.
The spotter’s calls grew louder and louder as the shooters kept firing and firing. Waiting for one to drop a point, slip outside the ten, make that fatal mistake that would allow the other a path to the championship. Ten, Ten, X, Ten … they just kept coming.
After Whidden Cleaned his Target, the Pressure Was On
Whidden finished clean. Tubb still had two shots to go. Whidden and his spotter silently shifted their scope and glasses to Tubb’s target. I inched a little closer. Hearing a noise, I turned to find an RSO peering over my shoulder to check on Tubb’s progress. The 14th shoot was an X. One shot left. A nine or ten meant Tubb would earn his first Long Range title in seven years. An eight meant we’d go to the X count and a seven or less would give the title to Whidden.
Whidden rose when the spotter cried out ten. The match and the championship was over. “Congratulations David. That’s some great shooting.”
Tubb accepted Whidden’s hand, allowed a smile and returned the admiration. Two shooters with almost a decade’s worth of Championships between them. But this one was for David Tubb. The end of a long road back to the title.
David Discusses his Championship-Winning Tubb 2000 Rifle
In the video below, David Tubb discusses his Tubb 2000 Rifle and the many records it has set. Over the past 11 years, Tubb 2000s have been used by 30 of the 33 “Top Three” finishers in the NRA High Power Championships — that’s a remarkable winning record:
Modular Driven Technology (MDT) has created a new 6061-T6 aluminum chassis for Rem 700 actions (and Rem 700 clones). MDT’s new TAC21 chassis has four (4) main components: action housing, lower unit (with trigger guard and mag well), forearm, and a quick-detach buttstock adapter that mates with the action housing. The main section has a +20 MOA milspec Picatinny rail on top. The action is seated on a V-Block style base inside the action housing. The short action TAC 21 chassis employs AICS-style magazines for .223 Rem or .308 Win-sized cartridges. The fore-end/handguard allows for free-floating barrels up to 1.350″ diameter. The chassis is built to accept any AR15/M16 stock and pistol grip.
Purchase from Sinclair Starting at $849.99
Currently Sinclair Int’l is the exclusive USA distributor of MDT’s TAC21 chassis. Sinclair’s price for the short-action version (right-hand or left-hand) is $849.99, while the long-action version will be $942.99. At present, only short action-versions are in stock, but MDT will be making long-action versions soon, and Sinclair is taking pre-orders. NOTE: these prices do NOT include buttstock, barrel, action, trigger, or optics. For more information, visit www.mdttac.com.
TAC21 Performs Well for Varmint Hunting
Al Voth from the Coyote School Blog did a field test of a .204 Ruger rifle built with the TAC21 chassis and conventional wood buttstock. Voth was able to assemble the rifle in 40 minutes with the MDT chassis kit and “everything fit perfectly.” CLICK HERE to Read Coyote School TAC21 Review.
Frank Galli, aka “Lowlight”, runs the popular SnipersHide.com website. Frank recently completed a gunsmithing course with Robert Gradous. Frank recounts the learning process in an informative, nicely-illustrated article on the ‘Hide. Frank explains how he put together a new 6.5 Creedmoor tactical rifle using a Bartlein barrel, Bighorn Action (Rem clone with floating bolt-head), and a “lightly used” Accuracy International 1.5 chassis. The HD video below shows the process start-to-finish. READ Full Article.
During Frank’s “hands-on” training sessions with Gradous, Frank learned to thread and chamber a barrel, fit a recoil lug, and install the barreled action in the AI chassis. Chambering was done with great care: “We spent the better part of the day working the barrel. I feel this is a critical component and seeing the attention to detail in Robert’s approach confirmed it for me. When it came time to chamber Robert had a custom tight chamber reamer there for a 6.5CM but I’m shooting a tactical rifle, tight chambers aren’t for me, and this was clear, as out came the standard SAAMI reamer.”
Frank also learned how to modify an aluminum chassis: “the AI chassis had the recoil lug opened up, but it was opened in the wrong direction. This was going to require milling increasing the gap to at least a 1/2″ in size. Robert was really leery of this, but my attitude was, ‘it’s just a chassis and nothing a little Marine Tex can’t handle’.” Thankfully the chassis mod came out OK.
Once the barreled action was complete and the AI chassis was successfully milled, Frank applied a tan Cerakote finish to the barreled action. This would give a proper tactical look to the rifle, while providing superior corrosion resistance for the metal parts. To learn more about Cerakote finishing, check out the Cerakote Application Video, published last week in the Daily Bulletin.
When the rifle was complete, Frank took it out for testing with a variety of ammo, both factory fodder and handloads. There were some initial worries about accuracy as it took a while for the barrel to break in. A few sessions of bore cleaning were required before the barrel stopped fouling and then — like magic — the rifle started printing really small groups.
By the end of his load testing session, Frank was getting good groups with Hornady 120gr GMX factory 6.5 Creedmoor ammo, and really superb groups with handloads. The 120gr GMX ammo “was going 3100 fps with no ill effects”. The best handloads were approaching 1/4 MOA for three shots, and Frank’s load with Berger 130 VLDs shot even smaller than that: “In my opinion the load development we did was worth its weight in gold. Where else can you build in a rifle in two days, then go out and develop a baseline load using everything from 120gr ammo to 140gr ammo with a few in between? My favorite load and clearly the rifle’s too, was the [Berger] 130gr VLD. This gave us great velocity, awesome groups [with some one-holers] and really nice results at distance.”
Lowlight’s Gunsmithing Story is a ‘Must-Read’
We recommend you read Frank’s story. It shows that, with the right tools, and the supervision of a master smith, even a novice can produce an ultra-accurate rifle. For those of you who have considered taking a gunsmithing class, Frank’s successful experience with gunsmith Robert Gradous should give you plenty of motivation.
Every Wednesday night, the popular Shooting USA TV series airs on the Outdoor Channel. The hour-long broadcast covers all aspects of shooting — from cowboy action to the National Matches at Camp Perry. No matter what gun game you play, you’ll probably find something of interest on Shooting USA. However, we know that many cable providers do not offer the Outdoor Channel in an affordable package, so many of you can’t watch the weekly broadcasts.
But here’s some good news — many of Shooting USA’s most popular video segments are now streamed on the internet. Just log on to MyOutdoorTV.com to access dozens of Shooting USA features. Leading off this week is a video that shows how to field-strip and clean an AR, followed by tips on zeroing the rifle with iron sights. Use the scrolling menu (on the right) to find other stories. Topics include: the Camp Perry National Matches, High Power Silhouette, 3-gun Competition, IDPA, the Bianchi Cup, SASS End of Trail. You’ll also find some informative gunsmithing videos. Watching Shooting USA videos online is a good option for readers who lack cable access to the Outdoor Channel.
Tactical Defense Institute (TDI) is teaming up with SRT Prosthetics to offer a “Wounded Warrior” training course for injured active/former military personnel. This course will also be open to civilians who are fitted with artificial limbs or other prostheses. The “Wounded Warrior” class will be held on May 14-16, 2012 and will follow TDI’s Handgun 1-2-3 curriculum. For more info, call TDI at (937) 544-7228 or email tdiohio [at] dragonbbs.com.
TDI Operates 186-Acre Training Facility in Ohio
Founded in 1986, TDI is a tactics and training facility located in southern Ohio. TDI’s 186-acre facility features three live fire houses, a 2-story force on force house, 400-yard rifle range, unknown distance range, dueling plate range, vehicle range and a main range with both paper and steel targets. TDI works with civilian, military, Federal, local law enforcement and corporate clients. TDI offers training at both its Ohio facility and at off-site locations around the country.
Video Shows How Wounded Warriors
Successfully Adapt to High-Tech Bionic Limbs
Watch the video below to see TDI’s training program for prosthesis-fitted vets. The video (from WCPO Ch. 9, Cincinnati) shows the new technology that is allowing many combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to resume their lives, and in some cases, their military careers. With rehabilitation and modern prosthetics, 20% of soldiers who have lost one limb are able to return to active duty.
Watch This Video — The New Artificial Legs are Amazing!
RCBS has launched a completely updated RCBS.com website. The new site features videos, a Step-by-Step Reloaders Guide, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section, a Glossary of Reloading Terms, a list of current Promotions and Rebates, a comprehensive parts inventory, plus all the RCBS product info you’d expect. Users can also download the 2011 RCBS Product Catalog. Along with its updated main site, RCBS has launched a companion reloading forum site, www.ReloaderHub.com. There you can post pictures and videos, share reloading recipes, and discuss reloading techniques.
Much good information is to be gleaned from the reloading videos available on RCBS.com. Hosted by RCBS Gen. Manager Allen Jernigan, these clips cover important reloading procedures, such as case prep, cartridge priming, and how to measure case run-out (eccentricity). Click the image below to go to the RCBS Video Archive.
California maintains some of the toughest firearms laws in the country. In most California counties, it is virtually impossible to get a permit for concealed carry. Handguns are subject to long waiting periods, and many perfectly reliable handguns are banned from sale in California.
Marathon combined computer gaming technology with armored, remote-controlled Segways to create the ultimate 21st century moving target. The lower halves of the Segways are armor-plated, so the expensive electronic innards don’t get damaged by an errant shot. On top is mounted a replica human torso. The torso section can be clothed to distinguish “civilians” from military targets, or to distinguish terrorists from hostages. 
Bushnell recently released its new 
Forum member Lee G. (aka ‘SkeetLee’) has built a fully enclosed, 4-season shoot house with loading area. The new shoot house, located on his parents’ farm, will make most readers envious. The quality of the slab and the framing is a far sight better than what you’ll find in many tract houses. SkeetLee has experience in concrete work and construction and he did a beautiful job on his new facility, which combines a large reloading area with two concrete benches facing out to a 200-yard range. The insulated shoot house will be heated in winter, allowing year-round shooting.
Once the barreled action was complete and the AI chassis was successfully milled, Frank applied a tan Cerakote finish to the barreled action. This would give a proper tactical look to the rifle, while providing superior corrosion resistance for the metal parts. To learn more about Cerakote finishing, check out the 
By the end of his load testing session, Frank was getting good groups with Hornady 120gr GMX factory 6.5 Creedmoor ammo, and really superb groups with handloads. The 120gr GMX ammo “was going 3100 fps with no ill effects”. The best handloads were approaching 1/4 MOA for three shots, and Frank’s load with Berger 130 VLDs shot even smaller than that: “In my opinion the load development we did was worth its weight in gold. Where else can you build in a rifle in two days, then go out and develop a baseline load using everything from 120gr ammo to 140gr ammo with a few in between? My favorite load and clearly the rifle’s too, was the [Berger] 130gr VLD. This gave us great velocity, awesome groups [with some one-holers] and really nice results at distance.”
