As we release this story, the New Year — 2021 — is just 12 hours away. Perhaps you’ve been eagerly awaiting for the big event, getting champagne (and sparklers) to celebrate the New Year. 2021 will hopefully be a much better year than 2020, what with the Pandemic, riots in the cities, and controversial elections. To mark the dawning of 2021, with hope for a much better year, we expect many folks will open a bottle of champagne. You could pop the cork the traditional way, or read on and learn how to release the celebratory champagne with a rifle shot, as demonstrated by the talented Kirsten Joy Weiss.
Recently at Thorton Winery in Temecula, California, a champagne vintner, we were shown the best way to open a champagne bottle. We were told you should hold the bottle nose up at an angle then rotate the BOTTLE slowly while holding the cork. That works great… but it’s not as stunning as the way sharpshooter Kirsten Joy Weiss opens a bottle of bubbly.
A former competitive smallbore rifle shooter, ace trigger-puller Kirsten Joy Weiss tried a special New Year’s trick shot a few seasons back. In keeping with the festive New Year’s spirit, Kirsten attempted to shoot the cork off a champagne bottle. After a few unsuccessful tries, she managed to hit the cork with at least two shots. But alas the cork did not fly. She actually hit the cork, but it did not release. That was surprising…
Undaunted, Kirsten changed her strategy, aiming for the neck of the bottle. This duplicates the process of “sabering” a champagne bottle — a method of liberating the bubbly by slashing off the end of the neck with a blade. Aiming for the neck of the bottle, Kirsten successfully blew off the top of the bottle. (Apparently, when “sabering” it is actually the pressure within the champagne bottle which does most of the work).
There is a new Gundies Award program for gun-centric social media content creators. Modeled after the Oscars or Emmys, the Gundies Awards focus on the world of guns, shooting, and hunting. Nominees include those who write about guns on Facebook, who post photos on Instagram, and who make videos for YouTube. The annual community-voted Gundies awards spotlight notable firearms-centric content creators. You can register on Gundies.com and then vote for your favorite “influencers” and video-makers. The last day to vote is 12/31/2020.
Mixed Bag of Nominees — Some Good, Some Laughable
To be honest, some of the female “influencers” are just narcissistic social media queens who trade on their looks. They get dolled up in revealing outfits and lots of make-up for posed shots with guns. And on the male side there are plenty of tattooed tactical poseurs with almost no technical knowledge. But there ARE some solid nominees, especially in the Best Shooter and Best Gun Reviewer categories. We showcase videos from five Gundies candidates below. NOTE: These are NOT the category winners — the actual winners will be decided by popular voting which closes December 31, 2020 (better vote soon).
There are 15 Gundies Categories:
YouTuber of the Year
Best Gun Reviewer
Best Shooter
Best Cross-over Creator
Breakout Creator of the Year
Influencer of the Year
Influencer Turned Entrepreneur
Best Outdoorsman
Most Innovative Content of the Year
Most Influential Female of the Year
Most Influential Male of the Year
Most Creative Content of the Year
Most Entertaining Content Creator
Most Likely to Survive an Apocalypse
Best Gun Store/Shooting Range
1. Gundies Nominee — Mrgunsngear
YouTuber of the Year Category
The Mrrgunsngear Channel has nearly 550,000 subscribers and we know why. This YouTube channel offers a combination of gun-centric content and complimentary reviews of outdoor gear (such as generators, lamps, backpacks, body armor). The host is articulate and a pretty good shooter. He also comments on recent gun law developments, such as the ATF Pistol Brace controversy. Here are four videos that showcase the variety of content from this capable Gundies nominee:
2. Gundies Nominee — Dustin Ellermann
Best Shooter Category
Our friend Dustin Ellermann is a past Top Shot TV Show Champion. He is a very capable shooter who also runs a Christian-focused Camp for kids. Dustin produces multiple videos every month for his Top Shot Dustin YouTube Channel. Here we feature Dustin’s review of the the Volquartsen Summit rimfire rifle. This is a straight-pull bolt rifle available in .22 LR, .17 Mach2 and .17 WSM. Dustin reports: “[The Summit] is extremely accurate as well as a perfect suppressor host.”
3. Gundies Nominee — Caleb Savant (Brownells)
Breakout Creator of the Year Category
While many Gundies nominees have very little technical knowledge of firearms, Brownells Firearm Support Technician Caleb Savant is the exception. Caleb’s Brownells videos cover a variety of technical topics — including sight installation, cartridge terminology, dry-firing, gun maintenance, tool selection, and much more. Honestly, you can really learn a lot from Caleb’s videos for Brownells. In this video Caleb Savant shows how to install a pre-fit barrel on a Savage bolt action. Pre-fits come with the chambers pre-cut, and they have a simple barrel nut that makes installation extremely easy.
Pew Pew Tactical (PPT) has a good website with useful content, such as a very thorough Review of Nine Long-Range Scopes. Along with its Blog articles, PPT offers dozens of videos on the PPT YouTube Channel. You’ll find many reviews of ARs, military-style rifles, and pistols. But in addition, PPT offers many good product reviews that are honest about product pros AND cons — that’s pretty rare these days. Here is one of PPT’s most informative videos, a 7-minute guide to cleaning and lubricating AR-platform rifles. This shows important details for the bolt and bolt carrier group.
5. Gundies Nominee — MrBigKid
Best Cross-Over Category
MrBigKid is not a typical gun-centric YouTube creator. That’s because his videos focus on two main topics — GUNS and BBQ. Since both those topics — shooting and eating — appeal to a broad audience, MrBigKid’s YouTube channel is growing quickly. When you get tired of the “bang and clang” of guns shooting steel, you can switch to pro-level barbecue methodology shared by a talented cook. Here are TWO of MrBigKid’s recent videos, one featuring a .50 BMG rifle and the other serving up delicious smoked Beef Ribs. Be honest… which video did you click first?
The NSSF reports that on December 23, 2020 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rescinded its Notice of “Objective Factors for Classifying Weapons with Stabilizing Braces” that was published on December 18, 2020. One of the reasons for the change was the massive amount of comments on the proposed rule change. Over 48,000 comments were posted on the Federal Register, the overwhelming number of them critical of the ATF’s proposed policies on pistols with braces.
“After tens of thousands of comments left by gun owners over the ATF’s proposed guidance over pistol braces, the agency pulled it from the [Federal Register].
The agency released the proposal and gave the public two weeks to respond. Many in the gun world believed that the ATF chose to release the document right before the Christmas holiday, hoping that the gun community wouldn’t notice it until it was too late. The American people did notice. Every firearms publication ran non stop coverage of the confusing and nonsensical proposal. YouTubers of all sizes encouraged people to write comments to the government about the new guidance.
Even the politicians got involved in rebuking the ATF’s power play. North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson and 89 other Congress members signed a letter urging the ATF to reverse course[.]”
What was the main problem with the ATF’s “guidance” firearms with braces? Fundamentally it was vague, confusing, and overly complex. With so many factors listed, the “guidance” would have permitted the ATF to require registration of virtually any brace-equipped pistol based on a complex collection of factors, some quite subjective. That wasn’t good policy and gun owners saw the problem. We need clear, definite, objective standards for what is allowed and what is not.
The NSSF concurred: “NSSF has long requested the ATF to publish objective criteria by which firearm manufacturers can readily produce firearms equipped with arm braces in compliance with the law. To date, the criteria is subjective and open to interpretation on a case-by-case basis. The guidance proposed by the ATF last week did little, unfortunately, to clear the ambiguity that exists with subjective criteria.”
The California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA) has received disturbing reports that many gun owners are receiving text messages on their personal phones claiming that there is an immediate deadline to get a CCW from their County Sheriffs office, along with a link to an application form. Be warned, this is a FRAUD, a SCAM. Do NOT click on the link — it could be used to steal valuable personal information.
CRPA has been advised by numerous Sheriff’s offices that there is a nationwide text message scam targeting citizens with CCW permits.
Those targeted by this scam have received text messages alerting them that their permit needs to be renewed or changed and offers a link to provide the user’s information.
This fraud is happening not just in CA, but other states as well. These text messages are being sent randomly from phone numbers to people across the entire nation.
DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!
It appears this latest attack on gun owners is a sinister, illegal attempt to obtain their personal information. If you receive a text message like this, CRPA advises you to DELETE the MESSSAGE from your phone and BLOCK the number from which it was sent. You may have to go to the call history to see the number.
For updates on this text scam issue, you can subscribe to email alerts by visiting the CRPA.org website. The California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA), founded in 1875, is a nonprofit, donor-supported organization with tens of thousands of members throughout California. CRPA’s membership is comprised of a cross-section of the general public including competitive marksmen, recreational shooters, hunters, shooting instructors, attorneys, and law enforcement officers.
Editor: This article is from the Powder Valley Website. The original release date was in October, 2020, BEFORE the election, so some factors have changed. But we are still seeing extreme shortages of primers.
If you’ve tried to purchase ammo or reloading supplies lately, you’ve probably noticed a lot of products are out of stock. Of all the components needed to reload ammo, it seems primers are the toughest to find, prompting many reloaders to refer to the current crisis as “The Great Primer Shortage of 2020″. The primer supply shortage doesn’t just affect reloaders, though. It’s also limiting the production of many popular types of ammunition. This can be frustrating for shooters and hunters looking to keep their edge on the range, and can be concerning for preppers, survivalists, and others who are concerned about their safety.
We are in the midst of the greatest primer shortage of all time, and we don’t see things getting better anytime soon. Read on as the experts from Powder Valley delve deeper into the primer shortage of 2020.
A Massive Increase in Demand
Like any other product in a market economy, primers are subject to the whims of supply and demand. As far as demand is concerned, a perfect storm of factors has caused a run on the ammo market like we’ve never quite seen before. A mix of the Covid-19 pandemic, civil unrest, and the possibility of an anti-2nd amendment President and Senate has caused demand to skyrocket. The pandemic specifically has incentivized shooters to learn how to reload their own ammo.
We have an extremely large number of new reloaders who have entered the market. The NSSF estimates that first time gun owners has increased to 6.2 million people over the past few months. [Editor: Vista Outdoor says the number may be 7 million by the end of 2020.] Unfortunately, many of those reloaders entered the market anticipating that it would be easier to make their own ammo since readily available ammunition was so difficult to find. With shortages of bullets, powder, brass and primers, that has simply not been the case
Since so many people have lost a chunk, or all of their income, it makes sense that reloading, which saves on the cost of ammo at the expense of time, would become more popular than ever. Even if you’re financially stable, reloading and shooting are great socially distant activities you can do while the movie theaters, bowling alleys, and bars are shut down. With little answers on the virus, it’s hard to see when these closures and limitations will end. This is why we believe this could end up being the greatest primer shortage of all time.
Hoarding of Primers
When there is a primer shortage the first thing people normally point to is consumer hoarding. We believe this is having an impact on availability, but probably not to the extreme that many think. There are definitely some profiteers who buy primers and then sell them on auction sites or other multi list sites. This is why many online retailers have now chosen to limit the purchase quantities to an extreme low level in an effort to reduce this.
Disruptions in the Supply Chain
Demand, however, is just one part of the story. Disruptions in the supply chain have also made a big impact on the availability of primers. When it comes to ammunition supplies, bullets are easy to manufacture, brass can be re-used, and powder is generally stockpiled by companies (though perhaps not the kind you’re looking for). This leaves primers, which are relatively difficult to make, as the component that causes the bulk of ammo shortages.
In the USA, only four companies (Winchester, Remington, Federal, and CCI) manufacture primers for civilian use, law enforcement, and the military. Even under perfect circumstances, there’s only so much they can produce at once, and needless to say, circumstances have not been perfect during the pandemic. People getting sick, missing work to take care of their kids, and self-quarantining – from factory workers to delivery drivers, and all throughout the supply chain – caused a lull in manufacturing this spring.
The Remington bankruptcy has had a large impact on the shortage of ammo and primers. With Remington in a state of financial insolvency for the past two years, suppliers were demanding payment upon delivery for products. Remington simply did not have the financial capabilities to have an abundance of raw materials on hand and had to shutter some of their production capacity. Barnes bullets and primers were hit particularly hard in the reloading market. With the recent purchase of Remington by Vista Outdoor, there is a good chance that Vista will be diverting CCI and Federal primers that would typically go to reloaders to Remington ammunition production. Remington primer production capacity has never been great. The hope would be that Vista will place more emphasis on getting the Remington primer production capacity increased substantially and quickly. The best news coming out of this is for Barnes fans. With Sierra’s purchase of Barnes we anticipate the availability of Barnes bullets to increase substantially in a very short period of time.
Reduced Supplies of Foreign-Made Primers
In 2008 we saw a huge influx of Russian primers. We are not seeing that this time as the Murom Apparatus Producing plant is only producing at partial capacity due to the COVID-19 restrictions. On top of that, there have been changes in upper management at Murom which have caused further disruptions. But, we are very hopeful that these changes will have a positive effect on production and distribution in the long run.
The situation has been worsened by dramatically reduced imports of Russian primers.
With import restrictions out of Russia, we do not anticipate seeing the help we had from them in 2008-2012. We had also seen S&B, Unis Ginex and other foreign brands of primers enter the market during the shortages to relieve some of the pressure, but aren’t seeing that influx of primers this time around. The lack of foreign primers on the market is a major reason we believe this shortage is going to last for quite some time. We may see some help from foreign primers, but we don’t anticipate the large volumes we’ve seen previously.
What Should You Do? As an individual, as of right now, there’s little you can do in the face of the reloading equipment supplies shortage. Keep checking your trusted online distributor Powder Valley for new arrivals of primers from all four manufacturers.
We have created some very stringent limitations on the purchase of primers in an effort to help as many people as possible work through this extremely tough time. Normally, we would say “stock up”. But that time has passed, and I would encourage everyone to learn from this. Stock up in times of plentiful supply so that you are not affected as greatly during these times of extreme shortage. In the meantime I would encourage everyone to pray for our country and our leaders[.]
Jason Hornady, V.P. of Hornady Ammunition Manufacturing, has a message for ammunition buyers about the shortage of ammo on retail shelves. He begins by stating that: “We understand there is, certainly, an ‘over-demand’ right now on ammunition availability.” That’s to put it mildly. An executive of Vista Outdoor recently explained that with 7 million new gun owners in 2020, if they all purchase just two 50-round boxes of ammo each, that represents 700,000,000 rounds of additional demand.
Jason assures customers that there are no hidden storage facilities, and there have been no government orders to halt production. In fact, Hornady is producing more ammunition than ever before, and the ammo is going straight from the production line out to vendors.
“We promise we are shipping everything we can. The stuff that goes out today was literally put in a box yesterday.” And Hornady’s factories are running at full capacity — “We’ve made one-third more [ammunition] than we did last year.”
Jason Hornady added: “In March, we were up 86 percent and that did it — the inventory was gone. We literally emptied our building. Since then, the sales increase is back to 15 percent a month because that’s all we can manage. Literally, we make it one day and ship it the next.”
Jason concluded: “We are shipping and doing everything we can to get product out the door. We appreciate you as a customer and we appreciate your patience.”
Founded in 1949, Hornady Manufacturing Company is a family-owned business headquartered in Grand Island, Nebraska. It proudly manufactures products “Made in the USA” by over 300 employees.
Holiday Greetings to Our Readers
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all our readers and especially our nearly 54,000 Forum Members. This marks our 16th Christmas “in business”, and the site is stronger than ever thanks to our Gold and Silver Forum members and industry sponsors. AccurateShooter.com is now accessed by over 500,000 visitors every month, who enjoy our Feature Articles, Daily Bulletin, Shooters’ Forum, and our Facebook Page. Part of the reason for that success is the hard work of our dedicated staff and volunteer helpers.
Unsung Heroes Deserve Recognition
I want to acknowledge those guys who have really helped out the site. Number one is Jay Christopherson who served as our Systems Admin for most of the year. Along with being a computer guru, Jay is a superb shooter who won the Berger SW Nationals F-Open this year. Stepping in for Jay in the second half of 2020 has been fellow F-classer Praveen Kumar, a very talented programmer who helped us through the challenge of a major Forum upgrade this fall. We also thank Andy B. our Xenforo ace who has contributed vital software solutions.
A huge “thank-you” goes to F-Class John who finds weekly bargains for the Bulletin and tests new products. John produces gear/hardware reviews for the Daily Bulletin with informative videos showcased on his YouTube Channel. John’s work has become a highlight of our Bulletin content. We thank Boyd Allen and EdLongRange who supply story leads for the Daily Bulletin. And we wouldn’t be here without Jeff Williams, who handles site donations by mail. We have a great place to test rifles thanks to our valued friend Joe Friedrich. Other important contributors include: Gavin Gear of UltimateReloader.com; Bryan Litz of Applied Ballistics, Bill Marr of Rifleshooter.com, Jason Baney of EuroOptic.com, and Dennis Santiago. These folks have contributed stories, reviews, and and videos. I also want to recognize Hunting Editor Colton Reid and Norway’s Thomas Haugland (shown below). All these men (and many others) have aided the site.
Praise for our Site Sponsors and Advertisers
We also want to thank our major sponsors, without whose support the site could not provide the full AccurateShooter.com experience, with an active Forum, an archive of in-depth articles, and fresh content 365 days a year in our Daily Bulletin. We’re grateful to ALL our sponsors and advertisers. In particular, we want to acknowledge the major companies which have been strong supporters of this site for many years: Capstone Precision Group (Berger, Lapua, SK, Vihtavuori), Bruno Shooters Supply, Bullet Central, Graf & Sons, EuroOptic, Krieger Barrels, Midsouth Shooters Supply, Powder Valley Inc., Precision Reloading, Whidden Gunworks, and Zeiss Sports Optics. Their continuing support helps us keep up the flow of information and serve our readers and Forum members.
Spending by hunters on their activities helps the economy and funding from hunters helps preserve wildlife. According to the NSSF, sportsmen contribute more than $2.9 billion every year for conservation. And over the last century sportsmen have paid many billions for on-the-ground projects in every state, protecting the natural environment and our fish and wildlife.
Unfortunately, hunters and hunting are under attack from misguided environmentalists who are seeking to ban hunting in many areas, as well as restrict or even eliminate traditional lead-based ammunition.
The NSSF video above and Infographic below address the issue of traditional ammunition, explaining why the attacks on lead ammo are misguided. Lead pollution is a real issue, but the amount of lead left in the wilderness from hunter’s bullets is miniscule compared to most important causes of lead pollution such as industrial waste and improper disposal of lead-compound batteries. What is REALLY going on, particularly in blue states like California, is that the leftists are attempting to use “green” strategies to advance their anti-gun agenda. This really isn’t about “getting the lead out” — it is about getting rid of guns.
There will be no actual SHOT Show in Las Vegas next month — the huge trade show was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) will offer an online learning experience, which it calls SHOT Show On Demand. Registration has just opened for SHOT Show’s “On Demand” offerings: SHOT University, Retailer Seminars, and Import/Export Webinar Series. These commence with Import/Export sessions on January 11, and conclude with a final Retailer Seminar on January 29, 2021.
Highlights of the 24 On-demand sessions for retailers and range owners will include:
Insurance for Shooting Sports Industry Ranges, Retailers, and Distributers
Firearms Ownership & Expansion in a growing American Demographic
The All-New Form 4473: You Have Questions, We Have Answers
Setting Your Range up for Success with First Time Shooters
Social Media Masterclass as a Team
2021 Annual ATF & NICS Townhall
The full lineup of available 2021 SHOT Show online education sessions can be viewed at https://shotshow.org/shot-show-on-demand-education. The Import/Export series (four live sessions) takes place Jan. 11-14. SHOT University (six live and two prerecorded sessions) takes place Jan. 18-20, while the 12 all-live Retailer Seminars take place Jan. 21-29. Registration for SHOT University, which includes all eight sessions, is just $265 for NSSF members. Retailer Seminars are available for $25 each to NSSF members, $50 each to non-members.
Here are the SHOT University offerings scheduled for January 18-20, 2021:
Session Recordings for Later Viewing:
For those who can’t attend the sessions at their scheduled times, recordings of all educational sessions will also be provided, which can be accessed at any time with your paid registration.
The consolidation of the USA outdoor retail sector continues. The Great American Outdoors Group, which owns Cabela’s and Bass Pro, plans to purchase Sportsman’s Warehouse for $785,000,000 in cash. This means three of the biggest outdoor gear and shooting supplies vendors will all have the same parent company*. Great American (based in Missouri) will pay $18 a share for Sportsman’s Warehouse, a 42% premium over the stock price on 12/21/2020, and will remain private. The acquisition deal is expected to close in the second half of 2021. Sportsman’s Warehouse is currently based in West Jordan, Utah.
“The driving force behind the partnership is the two companies’ similar histories and highly complementary business philosophies and geographic footprints”, the companies said in a statement. “Both entities share a passion with their customers for fishing, camping, hunting, boating and other outdoor activities.”
American Outdoors said the acquisition will allow improved online ordering and faster product delivery, “by leveraging the combined company’s extensive network of distribution centers and stores[.]”
Will Gun Inventories Grow or Shrink? That Is Uncertain…
Will Sportman’s Warehouse continue to be a very good source for firearms and hunting gear, with attractive gun prices? That remains to be seen. The press release made no mention whatsoever of gun sales, though it did state that Cabela’s-brand hunting gear will be available. The company boasted about expanded product lines for fishing and boating:
Sportsman’s Warehouse customers can expect… widely expanded product offerings including:
Access to the world’s largest selection of premium fishing tackle including legendary Bass Pro Shops and other premier brands.
The largest selection of premium hunting gear including the iconic Cabela’s brand.
Sportsman’s Warehouse will be able to offer customers the world’s leading boat brands, side-by-sides and ATVs at money-saving prices.
Transaction Overview
The merger agreement was unanimously approved by the Sportsman’s Warehouse Board of Directors. The transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of 2021, will be completed through a cash merger and is subject to approval by Sportsman’s Warehouse’s shareholders, as well as regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The transaction is not subject to any financing condition. The entities will continue to operate independently until the transaction closes.
* Along with Bass Pro and Cabelas, The American Outdoors Group owns the White River Marine Group (boats/trailers) and a selection of outdoors resorts in the USA.
A former competitive smallbore rifle shooter, ace trigger-puller Kirsten Joy Weiss tried a special New Year’s trick shot a few seasons back. In keeping with the festive New Year’s spirit, Kirsten attempted to shoot the cork off a champagne bottle. After a few unsuccessful tries, she managed to hit the cork with at least two shots. But alas the cork did not fly. She actually hit the cork, but it did not release. That was surprising…
CRPA has been advised by numerous Sheriff’s offices that there is a nationwide text message scam targeting citizens with CCW permits.
Hoarding of Primers
Holiday Greetings to Our Readers
