Gas prices have topped $4.40 a gallon and, in California, premium fuel has reached the five dollar mark at some stations (Ouch). Many match directors have told us that match attendance is down, particularly at regional and national events which require long drives. Many shooters are staying closer to home and not attending distant matches. Shooters are driving less to cut fuel bills, and to reduce wear and tear on their vehicles. With the price of gasoline soaring above $4.40/gallon, many shooters are cutting costs by attending fewer matches, or sticking to competitions near home.
While not traveling to a distant match will certainly save on gas (not to mention hotel bills etc.), we’d think there’s a compromise solution. We’ve observed that 95% of competitors at matches arrive solo — one to a vehicle. And, typically, most shooters drive big pick-up trucks or SUVs that may get less than 20 mpg on the freeway.
PROPOSAL: Car Pool to your next rifle match, sharing the ride with fellow shooters.
Whenever possible, this editor tries to “share my ride” with other shooters when going to the range or a match. I also drive an 10-year-old station wagon that gets an honest 29 mpg on the highway. Though it’s cheap to run, my vehicle has plenty of space for all the guns and gear 2 or 3 shooters would ever need. Another benefit of ride-sharing is that you can use car pool lanes on major highways, avoiding the nightmare of bumper to bumper traffic jams.
Here is a chart showing how much you can save by carpooling and by driving a vehicle with better mileage. If you drive 5000 miles a year to shooting matches, a car getting 27 mpg will save $479 in fuel costs compared to a vehicle getting 17 mpg. And even if you stick with your 17 mpg truck or SUV, ride-sharing with one other shooter can save you nearly $650.00 per year (if you drive 5000 miles to matches).
MPG
Miles Driven
Fuel Cost
@ $4.40/gallon
Ride-Share Savings
27 mpg
3000
$488.88
$244.44
22 mpg
3000
$600.00
$300.00
17 mpg
3000
$776.47
$338.24
27 mpg
5000
$814.81
$407.41
22 mpg
5000
$1000.00
$500.00
17 mpg
5000
$1294.12
$647.06
Of course, as with any activity, exercise moderation when driving together to matches. Don’t try to stuff too many guys and too much gear in any single vehicle….
Hunters are generous people. More than 11 million meals were provided to the less fortunate through hunters’ donations of game meat in 2010. Nearly 2.8 million pounds of game meat made its way to shelters, food banks and church kitchens and onto the plates of those in need. As a reminder to all hunters to consider sharing their harvest this autumn with those in need, NSSF has developed a new webpage to helpe hunters make venison donations to food banks and other charitable meal providers. Learn more at the Hunters Feed website.
This week, the “Sons of Guns” TV show features a grudge match between Brownells and Hornady. On tonight’s episode of the popular Discovery Channel TV series, the sons (and fathers) of two legendary, firearms-industry families square off in a 3-gun match, with “bragging rights” at stake for Brownells and Hornady. The “Corporate Shootout” episode airs Wednesday, October 17, at 9:00 pm (EST).
Long-time friends Pete Brownell of Brownells, and Jason Hornady of Hornady Mfg., both executives at their third-generation family-owned companies, team up with Red Jacket Firearms to do something special for their famous fathers. In the process, they’ll settle a generations-old grudge match over which family shoots better. “I only have to outshoot Pete Brownell,” said Jason. “He’s a long-time friend, but there are no friends when it comes to competitive shooting.”
Pete, pairing up with Frank Brownell, Chairman of Brownells, and Jason, joining Steve Hornady, President of Hornady Mfg., will engage in a friendly Brownell vs. Hornady 3-gun competition using 1911 pistols, AR-15 rifles, and Saiga shotguns built by Red Jacket Firearms.
Echoing Hornady’s sentiments, Brownell jokingly responded, “Jason’s a great guy, but he’s always known that I’m the better shot. In all seriousness, we had a great time competing with our fathers. I want to thank the Hornadys, as well as the crew at Red Jacket Firearms for an incredible experience. The show settles the bragging rights question once and for all.”
TV Guns Featured on Brownells Website
The AR-15s used by the Brownell, Hornady and Red Jacket teams for the filming of “Sons of Guns,” along with a list of products used for their builds, will be displayed in the Dream Guns section of the Brownells website following the show.
Weatherby has issued an important safety recall of a series of stainless-barreled Vanguard hunting rifles. If you have one of the affected Vanguards, you should stop using your rifle immediately. The problem centers on the barrel nut used to secure the barrel. According to Weatherby: “On some Stainless Steel Vanguard Rifles the barrel nut is not tightened to required torque specifications. The use of the rifle with an improperly torqued barrel nut may lead to failure in a discharge situation which could result in a personal injury.” For additional information, contact the Weatherby Registration Center by calling (888) 770-7138 or sending email to: regcen@realtimeresults.net .
Recall tip from EdLongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is now taking applications for its $1,000 annual college scholarship program, available to graduating high school seniors who participate in rifle or pistol marksmanship competitions. The scholarship program provides a non-renewable, one year scholarship. One half of the total allocation is set aside specifically for graduating JROTC seniors who qualified to compete at the CMP JROTC Service Championships. Last year the CMP awarded 59 scholarships to non-JROTC students. It was the first year of the CMP’s expanded scholarship outreach program. (The CMP Scholarship Program no longer requires a relationship with an ROTC or JROTC program.)
The CMP offers up to 150 $1,000 scholarships to qualified graduating seniors active in marksmanship programs. In the 2012-13 school year, CMP awarded 138 scholarships, totaling $150,000. Members of high school shooting programs, JROTC, 4-H shooting programs, American Legion, Boy Scouts, and CMP-affiliated club competitors are invited to apply.
To learn more about the program, visit the CMP’s Scholarship Application Webpage. Click the links below to download application forms in printable PDF format. The deadline to apply for the CMP scholarship program is March 5, 2013.
Eligibility requirementsfor CMP scholarships:
• Be a U.S. Citizen.
• Be of good moral character.
• Have achieved a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA.
• Be a graduating high school senior
• Demonstrate acceptance to a university, college, or trade school leading to a diploma or trade certification.
• Qualified for CMP JROTC Service Championships; OR
• Demonstrate rifle or pistol marksmanship competition experience.
SEND APPLICATIONS to:
Civilian Marksmanship Program
Attn: Scholarship Program
P. O. Box 576
Port Clinton, OH 43452
AccurateShooter.com has a HUGE collection of FREE downloadable PDF targets. We offer a very wide range of target designs: Load Development Grids, NRA Bullseye targets, Official-Size BR targets, Realistic Varmint Targets, Silhouette Shapes, Fun Plinking Targets, and even specialized tactical training targets.
If our collection of free targets isn’t enough, or if you want to create a new kind of target — you’re in luck. There’s an Australian-based interactive website that allows you to create your own customized, printable PDF targets. Just follow the step-by-step instructions to set paper size, layout, bullseye color and diameter. You can even add Score Numbers to your target rings. The Aussie Shooting Targets website is easy and fun to use. It’s much faster to create targets this way than to try to draw a series of circles with PowerPoint or MS Paint. And, if you’re not feeling creative, you can download nearly 100 pre-design A4-sized targets from the same Website.
We know that many of our readers have reached an age when it can be difficult to read small type. Thankfully, there are some easy keyboard tricks that can make our pages easier to view. Here are some tips that can help older eyes, enhancing your reading/viewing experience, when browsing the Daily Bulletin, reading our feature articles, or visiting our Shooters’ Forum.
1. Use the F11 Key on Windows PCs to Enable Full Screen View.
On a Windows PC Keyboard, you’ll find the F11 key above and slightly left of the large “Backspace” key. When you click F11, it will zoom the layout to fill your entire screen, removing the tabs and buttons that can rob space on the top and sides. That provides a less-cluttered layout for reading. To go back to “normal” view, simply click F11 a second time.
2. Use the Scroll Wheel on your Mouse to Increase Text Size.
If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, you can use this with most browsers to increase the size of text in our articles. Just hold down the CTRL key and roll the wheel forward to increase text size. With most browsers, this enlarges the entire web page, so navigation buttons get bigger too.
With Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Opera Browsers, hold down the CTRL key and spin the wheel forward to make the text larger. Hold the CTRL key down and roll the wheel back to shrink text.
3. Use the Keypad Plus/Minus Keys to Increase Text Size.
If you don’t have a scroll wheel on your mouse, you can increase the text size by holding down the CTRL key and clicking the + (plus) key on your keypad, located on the right side of your keyboard. Click the – (minus) key to reduce font size, while holding CTRL key.
4. Use + and – Buttons to Change Text Size on Feature Stories.
When browsing the feature stories in our main site, AccurateShooter.com, you can increase or decrease text size by clicking the plus and minus buttons at the top of right column.
The advantage with this method is it just changes the font size for the main story, while leaving the top section and side navigation unchanged. NOTE this doesn’t yet work on all our stories. Some of the older articles have a fixed layout so that the data tables display correctly.
Use Browser Tabs to Keep Bulletin, Forum, and Home Page Open
By using browser tabs, you can have “instant access” to our Forum while reading the Daily Bulletin. This is easy to do if you use a tab-equipped browser, such as Chrome or Internet Explorer 8+. Here’s how to open multiple tabs. When in the Daily Bulletin, Right Click on the “Forum” link at the top of the page. Select “Open in New Tab”. This will let you browse the Forum without closing the Daily Bulletin. Likewise, put your mouse over the “Home”, right click, and select “Open in New Tab”. This way you can have instant access to the Bulletin, the Home Page, and the Forum.
We often get requests from rimfire shooters who’ve acquired an older Anschütz that needs some repair work, or perhaps is missing a few small parts. Other readers have asked “who can help with tuning or upgrading an Anschütz trigger?” Listed below are two important resources. For repairs and factory replacement parts, contact Ten Ring Service. To purchase Anschütz smallbore and air rifles, (along with a selection of Anschütz accessories), you may want to try Champion Shooters Supply.
Anschütz Gunsmithing, Repairs, and Tuning
Looking for an knowledgeable shop that can help with Anschütz smallbore rifle repairs, trigger work, and tuning? Ten Ring Service in Jacksonville, Florida is highly recommended by many leading smallbore shooters. An authorized Anschütz factory repair center, Ten Ring can supply trigger upgrades, bolt replacements, and provide factory parts and accessories.
In 2010 we had an Anschütz 64R Biathlon rifle for testing and evaluation. We had some questions about tuning the 5103 two-stage trigger, and Ten Ring was very helpful. For other Anschütz rifles, Ten Ring can provide replacement springs, trigger parts, firing pins, and both factory and third-party accessories. For more info, contact Ten Ring Service at (904) 724-7419, and ask for Todd or Steven. Note: Ten Ring Service plans to launch a website (at long last) later this month (October, 2012).
Ten Ring Service, Inc.
2227 Lou Dr. West
Jacksonville, FL 32216-4456
Phone: (904) 724-7419 WEBSITE to be launched this month
Anschütz Rifles and Accessories Champion Shooters Supply in New Albany, Ohio carries a large selection of Anschütz target rifles and air rifles. If Champion Shooters doesn’t have a particular model in stock, they can often order the rifle from Germany on request.
Champion Shooters carries a full line of Anschütz shooting accessories, including front and rear sights, stocks, bolt knobs, shooting clothing, and miscellaneous small parts.
Download FREE Rifle Manuals
Looking for a manual or parts diagram for your Anschütz rifle or pistol? Champion Shooters offers FREE Rifle Manuals for 30+ different Anschütz firearms. These manuals are offered as Adobe .PDF files. Most of the manuals offer text in English, German and Spanish. In addition to the user manuals for dozens of Anschütz models, Champion Shooters offers a manual for the Anschütz 5065 trigger assembly.
Are you a died-in-the-wool .50 BMG fan? Got a hankerin’ for heavy artillery? Then visit the FCSA Photo Gallery page. There you’ll find hundreds of photos from Fifty Caliber Shooting Association (FCSA) matches and fun shoots in California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Washington. To access the photos from the Gallery Page, click on the colored tabs which indicate match location and date (such as NV2011-08).
Photo sets go all the way back to 2002, so you can see the evolution of the hardware over the years. Sample multiple archives to see the differences in terrain from one range to another — from Raton’s alpine setting to the hot, dry Nevada desert. This Gallery is really a treasure-trove of .50-Cal history. It’s worth a visit. Here are a few sample images.
Story Tip from EdLongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
Here’s an interesting factoid from Hodgdon Powder’s new Facebook Page:
The story of Hodgdon Powders begins with one number: 4895. Founder Bruce Hodgdon, a handloader and U.S. Navy veteran, knew that after WWI tons of surplus powder were dumped at sea. After WWII, rather than let it all go to waste, Bruce borrowed against his life insurance and bought 25 tons of 4895 from the U.S. Government. It was the perfect powder for the flood of surplus M1903 Springfield rifles chambered in .30-06. The rest is reloading history.
Shown below is the life insurance loan contract that funded Bruce Hodgdon’s Purchase of 25 Tons of 4895 Surplus Powder:
Gas prices have topped $4.40 a gallon and, in California, premium fuel has reached the five dollar mark at some stations (Ouch). Many match directors have told us that match attendance is down, particularly at regional and national events which require long drives. Many shooters are staying closer to home and not attending distant matches. Shooters are driving less to cut fuel bills, and to reduce wear and tear on their vehicles. With the price of gasoline soaring above $4.40/gallon, many shooters are cutting costs by attending fewer matches, or sticking to competitions near home.
Whenever possible, this editor tries to “share my ride” with other shooters when going to the range or a match. I also drive an 10-year-old station wagon that gets an honest 29 mpg on the highway. Though it’s cheap to run, my vehicle has plenty of space for all the guns and gear 2 or 3 shooters would ever need. Another benefit of ride-sharing is that you can use car pool lanes on major highways, avoiding the nightmare of bumper to bumper traffic jams.
Long-time friends Pete Brownell of Brownells, and Jason Hornady of Hornady Mfg., both executives at their third-generation family-owned companies, team up with Red Jacket Firearms to do something special for their famous fathers. In the process, they’ll settle a generations-old grudge match over which family shoots better. “I only have to outshoot Pete Brownell,” said Jason. “He’s a long-time friend, but there are no friends when it comes to competitive shooting.”
Weatherby has issued an important 
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is now taking applications for its $1,000 annual college scholarship program, available to graduating high school seniors who participate in rifle or pistol marksmanship competitions. The scholarship program provides a non-renewable, one year scholarship. One half of the total allocation is set aside specifically for graduating JROTC seniors who qualified to compete at the CMP JROTC Service Championships. Last year the CMP awarded 59 scholarships to non-JROTC students. It was the first year of the CMP’s expanded scholarship outreach program. (The CMP Scholarship Program no longer requires a relationship with an ROTC or JROTC program.)
AccurateShooter.com has a HUGE collection of 
The advantage with this method is it just changes the font size for the main story, while leaving the top section and side navigation unchanged. NOTE this doesn’t yet work on all our stories. Some of the older articles have a fixed layout so that the data tables display correctly.
Ten Ring Service, Inc.
Anschütz Rifles and Accessories
