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August 10th, 2015
Surgeon Rifles makes excellent tactical actions and complete rifles. Now you can save 10% off all Surgeon products (actions, rifles, bottom metal, bipods, suppressors etc.) with Coupon Code SR10. The sale even includes optics (if purchased with a complete rifle).
Surgeon recently marked 10 years in business, and the company now has 10,000+ Facebook fans. To celebrate those milestones, Surgeon has announced a special Customer Appreciation Sale:
Now through August 31st, all Surgeon Rifles’ products* are 10% off MSRP! That means EVERYTHING! In-stock rifles, custom rifles*, actions, bottom metals, bolt knobs, bi-pods, small parts, apparel, and AWC suppressors** are all on sale. Surgeon is even extending 10% off MSRP to all optics that we offer when purchased with a rifle.
All you have to do is use coupon code SR10 during online checkout, or mention this sale to Surgeon’s sales reps. NOTE: Discount cannot be combined with any other offers, deals, or discounts including MIL/LE or dealer pricing. The 10% off does not include tax or shipping.
*Custom rifles must be ordered and deposit received by 5:00 pm MST, August 31st, 2015.
**Only valid on AWC Silencers’ PSR, THOR PSR, Thundertrap, THOR Thundertrap, Raider, and THOR Raider models.
Sale tip from EdLongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
August 9th, 2015
The Fullbore (Target Rifle) World Championships are now underway at Camp Perry. Held every four years (like the Olympics), the ICFRA World Target Rifle (Fullbore) Championships event is quite possibly the most important long-range rifle competition on the planet. This year the World Championships take place in the USA, at Camp Perry, Ohio. Teams from 11 countries are competing. Here we have some early reports from the August 8th Opening Ceremony…
Report by Ray Gross, Captain U.S. F-TR Team, 8 August, 2015
The U.S. Army Golden Knights parachuted in as part of the opening ceremony for the World Long Range Championships being held at Camp Perry, Ohio. Three of our sister teams, the U.S. Palma Team, the U.S. Veterans Team and the U.S. Under-25 Team will be competing against teams from around the world. Several members of our team, Ray Gross, Steve Hardin, Bryan Litz, and Lane Buxton, are part of the U.S. Palma Team.
The format is very similar to our own World Championships. Everyone entered in the Individuals will shoot 15 shoots for record at 800, 900, and 1000 yards and they will complete that course of fire three times over the next several days. The team event fires the same course twice.
The main difference from our style of shooting is that they will compete using aperture-type target sights and will be using an arm sling as support compared to the scopes and bipods that we use. The rings on our target are substantially tighter to account for the the greater stability and accuracy of the type of rifles that we use.
Report from Anette Wachter (aka 30CalGal), 8 August 2015
Day One of the World Long Range Championships — we had Opening Ceremonies this morning which had our U.S. Army Golden Knights jumping in and the flag raising of each participating country. Sherri Gallagher, former USAMU shooter and now a Golden Knight, led the team as the first and solo jumper. I was sort of hoping she would land in the prone position with a rifle and start the competition. The rest of the Knights fell from the sky and landed perfectly on the X.
The U.S. Fullbore Nationals consisted of individuals and various team events as well as the biggest event, the America’s Match. The USA has never lost the America’s Match at home. We won it three years ago here at Perry and last summer up in Canada. Yesterday was not in the cards. First let me congratulate Great Britain for some outstanding shooting. They lost a total of 17 points for 8 shooters all day and took the Gold. Australia came in second, South Africa 3rd and the USA in 4th. Very humbling yes. One of our coaches had to leave at the middle of the match for a family emergency as well. So I believe the kinks are done and we can move on successfully for this coming week of Worlds. We have the best shooters in the U.S. on our team. Things will turn around. Three women were in the top 25 of the Fullbore Nationals: Michelle Gallagher, Trudie Fay, and Jane Messer. Our Veterans and Under 25s had their World Championship team events as well. Our Veterans took the Gold and the USA Under 25s took the Bronze. The GB kids shot very well and received Gold and Silver medals.
Click HERE for Full-Bore Nationals Results
August 9th, 2015
There has been a huge growth in the number of registered suppressors in the USA. From 2014 to 2015, the number of NFA-registered suppressors rose from 571,150 to 792,282. That’s a 39% increase in just one year! It’s remarkable that there are nearly 800,000 suppressors now registered in the USA. These stats are based on data published in the latest Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) Firearms Commerce Report.
According to Knox Williams, president of the American Suppressor Association, “The suppressor market grew more [from 2014-2015] than it did in the previous two years combined. This unprecedented growth is in large part due to educational initiatives, and the passage of 11 pro-suppressor laws and regulations last year.” (Source: Guns.com.)
We expect suppressors (also known as “cans”, “silencers” or “sound moderators”) to become even more popular in the years to come. This trend will continue: “As more target shooters and hunters realize the many benefits suppressors provide, their popularity across the United States will continue to increase,” said NSSF Senior Vice president and General Counsel Larry Keane.
Texas Leads the Way in Suppressor Ownership
Currently, 41 states permit ownership of Federally-registered suppressors. While suppressor ownership rates are increasing in all those 41 states, forty percent (40%) of all registered suppressors are found in five key states: Texas (130,769), Georgia (59,942), Florida (50,422), Utah (50,291) and Oklahoma (27,874).
Suppressor CAD drawing by Reimo Soosaar, hosted on GrabCAD.com.
Silencer infographic by SilencerCo.com.
August 9th, 2015
Looking for a good job in the firearms industry? The NSSF has you covered. The NSSF Jobs Site site offers up-to-date job listings, powerful search features, and a mobile-friendly interface. It’s easy to upload your Resumé, and the Job Alert feature can send you new listings via email as soon as they post. Visit jobs.nssf.org for current employment opportunities in the shooting, hunting and outdoor industry.
Here are some of the latest job listings on the NSSF Firearms Industry Jobs Website:
Marketing Manager – XS Sight Systems, Fort Worth, Texas
Account Specialist – Leupold & Stevens, Beaverton, Oregon
Marketing/Communciations Specialist – FN America, LLC, McLean, Virginia
Ammunition Production Manager – Desert Tech, West Valley City, Utah
National Director, Scholastic Pistol Program – Scholastic Shooting Sports Found., San Antonio, Texas
General Manager – Lotus Gunworks, Louisville, Kentucky
Product Buyer, Davidson’s, Prescott, Arizona
Director, Retail Sales – LaserMax, Rochester, New York
Graphic Design Specialist – Kimber Mfg. Elmsford, New York
Business Development Manager – XS Sight Systems, Fort Worth, Texas
Design Engineer MEC Reloaders – MEC Shooting Sports, Mayville, Wisconsin
Customer Service Representative, Swarovski Optik NA, Cranston, Rhode Island
National Accounts Manager – Sig Sauer, Newington, New Hampshire
Facility Sales Representative – Range Systems, New Hope, Minnesota
Customer Service Supervisor – Crimson Trace, Wilsonville, Oregon
August 8th, 2015
Welcome to the wacky world of Municipal Anti-Gun Ordinances. San Francisco and Los Angeles have city-specific magazine bans and gun storage requirements, and now it appears that Seattle may target gun owners with new “sin taxes” on firearms and ammunition.
$25 Per Gun and Five Cents Per Round
The Seattle City Council will soon vote on a new local law that will add a $25.00 surcharge to every new gun purchase. In addition, the proposed Seattle City Ordinance will add a $0.05 (five cent) fee to each and every centerfire round sold in Seattle. Rimfire .22LR rounds will be taxed $0.02 per round.
The stated purpose for the new Gun and Ammo Tax is to raise money to combat crime, according to Seattle City Council President Tim Burgess, author of the Gun Tax ordinance. Burgess told local KING-5 TV reporters that this is essentially a “Sin Tax” on guns and ammo: “We’ve been working on this for several years. Sure, I wish we would have done this 20 years ago, but we know what the problem is. We tax cigarettes and alcohol and even wood-burning stoves for public health purposes. Why not guns and ammunition?”
While supporters of the Gun and Ammo Tax, including Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, claim the new city tax would raise over $300,000 to fight crime, in reality this measure is more about getting rid of guns that it is about making Seattle safe. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has opposed the Seattle Gun and Ammo Tax, stating: “[This ordinance] will have no effect on decreasing gun violence. It is designed to place a huge burden on legitimate firearms retailers and law-abiding gun owners. Additionally, the proposed ordinance is a gross violation of Washington’s firearms preemption statute.”
Daniel Xu, writing in OutdoorHub.com notes that gun buyers already pay Excise Taxes with each purchase: “However, unlike the [Federal] Pittman-Robertson Excise Tax, which retains funds for conservation and habitat-protection efforts, the funds collected by the ordinance will go entirely back into the city for ‘gun violence research and prevention programs’. City leaders have yet to specify… how the funds will be spent.”
READ Related Story in OutdoorHub.com. Public domain Seattle photo by Rattlhed.
August 7th, 2015
If you want to know the “real-world” Ballistic Coefficients (BCs) of popular match and hunting bullets, confirmed by actual field testing, turn to the folks at Applied Ballistics. Since 2009, Applied Ballistics has conducted extensive live-fire testing of all major brands of rifle bullets. This has produced the most extensive and accurate collection of performance data on modern rifle bullets even compiled.
Bryan Litz and his team at Applied Ballistics have spent countless hours shooting hundreds of different projectiles over multiple chronographs to determine the bullets’ true drag characteristics, and G1 and G7 BC values. And now the data set is even better. Applied Ballistics just announced that it has expanded the list of tested bullets to 533, up from 400 in 2014.
The new Data Library will be supplied to all Applied Ballistics software applications. In addition, the data will appear in an updated, Second Edition of the Ballistic Performance of Rifle Bullets book, which is slated for release in 2015. The electronic version of the Applied Ballistics bullet library includes full custom drag models for each bullet. A custom drag model is a unique drag profile for a bullet, which is a more accurate model of drag than G1 or G7 referenced BCs.
The Bullet Data Library now has 533 bullet models, all with custom drag models. This expanded library, which now extends to .50 Caliber, is currently available in electronic form in the Applied Ballistics Kestrel. The digital library is also in place supporting the AB Analytics desktop software, as well as the Applied Ballistics Mobile App for Android, with the iOS App coming soon. Over the next few weeks, updates to the Applied Ballistics mobile software will be pushed out to all users automatically. To get the latest bullet library for your Kestrel device, visit the Kestrel Software Support Page.
 Bryan Litz explains why bullet field testing is important:
Calculating firing solutions for long range shooting is often the weak link in the accuracy chain. Historically, one of the biggest uncertainties has been modeling the drag of the bullet itself. Traditionally this means having an accurate Ballistic Coefficient (BC). Recent years have seen a substantial improvement in the accuracy of BCs published by Applied Ballistics, and the use of G7 BCs.
In 2013, accurate drag modeling took another quantum leap when Applied Ballistics began measuring the custom drag profiles of individual bullets, and included these custom drag models in Applied Ballistics software libraries for the AB Mobile App, AB Analytics desktop software, and the AB Kestrel.
August 6th, 2015
A very special M1 Garand is going up for auction this September. President John F. Kennedy’s M1 Garand rifle, obtained from the CMP in 1959, will be auctioned by the Rock Island Auction Company (RIAC) as part of RIAC’s September Premiere Auction. RIAC believes JFK’s Garand will fetch from $50,000 to $100,000 at auction.
President Kennedy obtained the M1 Garand in 1959 while he was serving as U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. “Since this rifle was issued to Senator Kennedy in 1959, well before he was elected to the Office of the President of the United States, this rifle could very well have accompanied him directly into the White House,” RIAC stated.
The auction house included a thank-you letter from JFK himself: “Colonel John K. Lee, Jr. has told me of the time and care which you took to accuratize [sic] and test fire the National Match M1 rifle, which I recently purchased. I do want to express my appreciation for your interest and attention in this matter and I am looking forward with pleasure to having an opportunity to use the rifle.”
The rifle is in like-new condition: “Excellent overall with 99% of the original hand polished and blued finish still remaining with just some minor wear on the right side receiver rail, from the limited test firing it has seen. The stock and handguard set are all in mint condition with 99% of the original hand rubbed finish/sealer with no handling marks or dings, with just visible cartouches.”
Writing for OutdoorHub.com, Daniel Xu says this rifle had a special history: “At the time the DCM, the predecessor of today’s Civilian Marksmanship Program, issued rifles based on a lottery system, selling a few hundred to a few thousand firearms annually. According to the RIAC, Kennedy’s rifle came from the Erie Ordnance Depot in Port Clinton and was actually a rifle made late in the M1 Garand’s production lifetime. The Type 1 National Match M1 Garand then received a VIP treatment from a gunsmith attached to an Army marksmanship unit, Master Sergeant Raymond E. Parkinson. Parkison adjusted the trigger, added a glass-bedding compound to the recoil shoulders of the stock, and blued many of the metal parts.”
August 6th, 2015
Victor Betzold had a Camp Perry experience for the ages. At the 2015 CMP Games, Betzold won the Garand Match, won the M1 Carbine Match (setting a new Record), and took the 3-Gun Aggregate for the second year in a row. Now that’s an impressive performance. Betzhold is no stranger to shooting – beginning in junior high and firing well into college, then taking his love for guns into the Army. After the years went on and work and family became higher priorities, he fell away from the sport he loved. But now that he’s retired at age 60, he’s had time to practice again – practice that has certainly paid off.
During his remarkable showing at the National Games Matches, Betzold won the Carbine Match with a score of 375-6X, setting a new National Record in the process. In the National Garand Match, Betzold fired a score of 290-7X to become the overall winner of a field of 1213 competitors.
“It feels great,” he said. “I’ve been working at this for a long time.” The 60-year-old Betzold was also the top senior for both the Garand Match and the Carbine Match.
With his outstanding performances in the Garand and Springfield Matches, as well as an exceptional seventh-place finish in the Vintage Military Match, Betzold claimed the 3-Gun Aggregate title for the second year in a row — with a combined score of 865-19X.
Lady Competitor at the Garand Match (file photo).
To review complete results for all CMP National Match events at Camp Perry, visit the CMP 2015 Trophy Matches and SAFS Results Page.
August 5th, 2015
If you missed the 2015 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Nashville this year, then tune in to ShootingUSA TV tonight (August 5, 2015). ShootingUSA will be covering the 2015 NRA Convention which took place April 10-12 in Nashville, Tennessee. This television report features interviews with top shooters and previews of new guns and gun-related products.
 For many American gun owners and Second Amendment supporters, the NRA’s Annual meeting is the biggest event of the year. This past April, over 78,000 NRA members flooded Nashville to participate in the event. Some folks brought questions and comments for industry leaders, some wanted to see the latest innovations and gear, and others brought their families to introduce their kids to the shooting world. Next year, the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits will be held in Louisville, Kentucky. The three-day event runs May 20-22, 2016 at the Kentucky Exposition Center.
Along with the NRA Convention feature, this week’s Shooting USA episode includes a pistol training drill with pro shooter Julie Golob plus a feature on the M9 Beretta pistol (the military version of the Beretta Model 92). Here are broadcast times for ShootingUSA on the Outdoor Channel:
The Shooting USA Hour on Wednesday Nights
Eastern Time – 3:00 PM, 9:00 PM, 12:30 AM Thurs
Central Time – 2:00 PM, 8:00 PM, 11:30 PM
Mountain Time – 1:00 PM, 7:00 PM, 10:30 PM
Pacific Time – 12:00 Noon, 6:00 PM, 9:30 PM
August 4th, 2015
Our friend Vince Bottomley provides this report about an Aussie-style Fun Match held at the Diggle Range in the UK. Read all the details on the Target Shooter Magazine website.
Fly-Shoot Report by Vince Bottomley
The Fly-Shoot competition involves shooting three, 5-shot groups at 500 yards on a target just eight inches (8″) in diameter. In the middle of the 10-Ring is a fly — bigger than a UK fly admittedly but this is an Aussie competition and I’m told that such flies are normal down-under….
This year’s Fly Shoot enjoyed a record entry with almost 70 shooters turning up to shoot a fly at 500 yards. Quite a few managed that feat! Steve Barrett was the overall winner. Points are awarded for score and group size and of course for hitting the fly. Fly swatters get a commemorative patch and this is what most competitors covet.
For once, the weather was kind – overcast and threatening rain in the morning but, from a shooter’s point of view – perfect, with Diggle’s reservoir resembling the proverbial ‘sheet of glass’ – a rare sight, believe me! The shoot attracts a great variety of custom rifles and with it an equally assorted band of competitors from bunny-bashers to benchresters and, that’s part of the attraction….
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