Bryan at Powder Valley Inc. (PVI) let us know that Powder Valley is offering a “Freedom Special” on July 4th. You get free shipping (exclusive of hazmat and insurance) for online orders (over $150) placed on July 4th. Bryan explains: “In celebration of Independence Day and the wonderful men and women who have fought for our great nation Powder Valley is offering free freight (does not include hazmat and insurance) on all orders over $150.00.”
IMPORTANT: To qualify, Orders must be placed ONLINE between 12:01 AM and 11:59 PM ET on July 4, 2012.. Don’t forget that, where required, hazmat fees and insurance costs will still charged with shipments.
Every summer at Camp Perry, Ohio, prior to the National Rifle and Pistol Trophy Matches, soldiers from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) take time to pass their knowledge on to the next generation of American shooters. The Small Arms Firing School (SAFS) was instituted in 1918 by the Dept. of Defense. SAFS is now run by the USAMU, with help from other U.S. Military and National Guard personnel.
The SAFS is divided into pistol and rifle programs. The Pistol SAFS will be held on Monday, July 9, 2012, while the two-day Rifle SAFS will be held July 28-29, 2012. There are two divisions for rifle shooters — a basic program for novice/intermediate shooters, plus an Advanced Service Rifle Course for experienced marksmen. Both rifle programs finish with special M16 EIC Matches.
The SAFS program is very popular, drawing over 1,000 participants to each year’s rifle and pistol classes. Fees for the Rifle School or Pistol School are a modest $45.00 for adults and $30.00 for juniors. The USAMU provides semi-auto-only M-16A2 rifles for the students to use. The USAMU also supplied pistols and ammo for the pistol students. CLICK HERE for registration and more information.
The day starts with classroom instruction and covers everything from the functioning of the weapon to proper positioning. The instructors, such as 2009 National Pistol Champion SFC James Henderson, are among the best in their respective shooting disciplines. After a few hours in the classroom, the students trek to the range and get a feel for the weapon in dry-fire simulation. There are two students per military instructor. Upon their return from lunch, students go to the range for live-fire practice.
SFC Jason St. John, USAMU, explained: “The advanced class … covered mental management training, preparing for a competition, and basically what it’s going to take to get to that next level”. Splitting the rifle class into two divisions based on shooter experience has proven to be effective and popular. Said SFC Lance Dement, USAMU: “In previous years we had around 400 students or less (for the rifle class) and now we’re close to 700. With the price of ammo going up, the cost of fuel, the economy the way it is, and people are still coming — that’s a good thing. They are the future of the sport.”
Shooters of All Ages Attend Firing Schools
Persons from all walks of life, young and old alike, have participated in the pistol and rifle Firing Schools. The students range in age from 12 to 70. (Minimum age for Rifle SAFS students is 12; minimum age for Pistol SAFS students is 14.) State junior shooting teams showed up, families planned their family vacations around the trip to Perry, and others flew long distances to learn from the elite marksmanship instructors.
“It’s such a great thing,” said Jim Davis from Indiana. “This is the best place in the country, maybe the world, to learn about shooting and everything that goes with it.” Davis took his son and three other kids from the Dekalb County 4-H Club to the rifle class, stressing how valuable the instruction is to them now and down the road. “I still remember when I came to this school as a teenager,” he said. “I tell my kid that this is something that you’ll always remember.”
This story is based on a report by Michael Molinaro, USAMU public affairs officer.
The all-new Northern Arizona Shooting Range (NASR) opens on Saturday, July 7, 2012. The public is invited to the grand opening of the 160-acre NASR facility, located east of Flagstaff, AZ. Following opening remarks by state officials and politicians, there will be a traditional Hopi blessing by representatives from the Hopi Tribe, and then the ceremonial ribbon cutting for the range.
Following the ceremony, the public will have the opportunity to shoot .22 rifles on the 100-yard range and try out archery on the 50-yard range. Loaner .22 rifles, ammunition and archery gear will be available for this activity. Shotgun shooters can sign up for the National Sporting Clay Association registered sporting clays events or fun shoots. Registration for these events opens at 9 a.m. for the Saturday shoots, which begins at 11 a.m. On Sunday, shooting events begin at 10 a.m., and registration opens at 8 a.m. A food vendor will also be on site Saturday.
The opening of the Northern Arizona Shooting Range is the culmination of a long-term effort by the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) and shooting sports enthusiasts to establish a public shooting range in the Flagstaff vicinity. In July 2010, the 160-acre Foster Ranch in Coconino County was acquired as the site of the much-needed local public shooting range. Northern Arizona residents had been without a rifle and pistol shooting range since 1968. In 1994, closures of the local shotgun and archery ranges resulted in one of Arizona’s largest communities not having a designated place for recreational/competitive shooting. Under an agreement with the AZGFD, the Northern Arizona Shooting Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, will operate the range.
How to Get To the Range
The Northern Arizona Shooting Range is located approximately seven miles southwest of Winona. Take I-40 east from Flagstaff about 10 miles to the Winona Exit (Exit 211). Head south on the Winona Ranch Road for about two miles to Forest Road 128. Take a right (west) on Forest Road 128 and follow it for about four miles. The range is on the left (east) side of the road at Forest Road 128A. Follow the signs.
German gun-maker Walther will be selling its own firearms in the USA, starting in 2013. Previously, Smith & Wesson distributed Walther firearms and accessories in the United States. Walther has decided to handle the marketing, distribution, sales, and servicing of its firearms in the USA through the newly-formed Walther Arms Inc., a subsidiary of the PW Group of Arnsberg, Germany. (PW owns both CARL WALTHER GmbH Sportwaffen and Umarex.) Starting January 1, 2013, Walther sales and marketing will be handled by Walther Arms Inc., with the exception of the Walther P22 and PK380 models, which Smith & Wesson will continue to sell and distribute through April 30, 2013.
Walther Will Continue to Build M&P22 Pistol and Umarex Licenses Smith & Wesson Name
Though Walther will now import and distribute its own guns, Smith & Wesson will continue to manufacture the PPK for Walther Arms, Inc. and CARL WALTHER GmbH will continue to manufacture the M&P22 handgun for S&W. Additionally, Umarex will continue to license the Smith & Wesson brand for airgun products. “We are extremely thankful for the relationship we have had and will continue to have with the quality organization of Smith & Wesson,” said Wulf-Heinz Pflaumer, President of the PW Group, who added: “Smith & Wesson has been an outstanding partner.”
New Walther Arms Inc. Enterprise Will Be Based in Arkansas
Walther Arms will begin operations sharing a corporate campus in Fort Smith, Arkansas with Umarex USA, another company in the PW Group. “The new U.S.-based Walther Arms Inc. allows a more direct influence from the U.S. consumer’s wants and needs into our product development.” said Karl Heinz-Luther, V.P. of Sales & Marketing, CARL WALTHER GmbH. The President & CEO of Walther Arms will be Adam J. Blalock, who will also remain as President & CEO of Umarex USA. Blalock stated: “We will have a dedicated team focused on meeting the needs of U.S. consumers. We are very thankful for the many loyal Walther customers and we’re excited for the opportunity to serve them.” For more information visit www.carl-walther.de.
Sinclair International regularly publishes Reloading Advice and Tech Tips in the Sinclair Reloading Press Blog. Mr. Bob Blaine, Sinclair Reloading Tech, has asked Sinclair’s customers to suggest ideas for future technical articles. Here’s your chance to pose questions to be answered and topics to be covered.
Suggestions Wanted by Sinclair Int’l:
As most of you have noticed, [Sinclair has] brought out some interesting items in our recent Sinclair Summer Catalog. Introducing new products generally causes a lot of questions, and we really do enjoy answering them for you. One of our upcoming articles will be about the new Stainless Steel Tumbling Media. We will explain how to best use the new tumbling media, and will include pictures to help show you how to work with it.
I want to know what other new products you would like us to showcase in future Reloading Press articles. We do enjoy hearing from all of you, and this is your chance to let us know what articles you would like to see from our Sinclair Reloading Tech Staff. We look forward to hearing from you! — Bob Blaine
SSG Daniel Horner of the USAMU came from behind to win the 3-Gun Nation (3GN) match at the South River Gun Club in Covington, GA. Trailing Keith Garcia with one stage remaining, Horner laid down a blistering final stage to finish first. This was Horner’s second win in three events on the 2012 FNH USA 3-Gun Nation Pro Series Tour. Just a little more than two and a half months ago, during the first 2012 3GN Pro Series event in St. Augustine, Florida, it was Garcia who had a great final stage run. On that day, Horner came up just a few tenths of a second short, giving Garcia his third 3GN win.
Behind the Scenes with Dan Horner (Excellent Video, Click to Watch)
Trailing by less than a second heading into the final stage, Horner shot superbly with his rifle, was very clean with pistol, and laid down a solid shotgun run. In three Pro Series Events this season, Horner has two wins and one second place, earning a total of $13,000 this season. Garcia cashed his second 3GN check of the season, totaling $8,000 after three events.
In third place for the second time this season was Taran Butler, who shot a very solid match. Butler, who also finished third in St. Augustine, has won $4,000 on the 3GN Pro Series this season. In all, $26,000 in cash prizes were paid to the field, with $10,000 across first, second and third provided by Stag Arms.
3-Gun Nation Matches are Fast and Furious
The 3GN Pro Series puts 64 of the game’s top shooters into a one-day, all-Tactical Optics format. All competitors shoot five extremely fast, open stages, where multiple stage strategies are possible, challenging even veteran shooters. The top 10 then make the cut, proceeding to stage 6, where in front of a crowd of onlookers, including the entire field of competitors; scores are posted on the large 3GN Scoreboard for all to see.
The next event on the 3-Gun Nation Pro Series Tour with be the second annual Rockcastle Pro-Am. This runs August 26-28, 2012, at the Rockcastle Shooting Center in Park City, Kentucky. A 3GN Pro Series Shoot-Off will culminate what promises to be the largest 3-gun match of the season, with more than 500 shooters registered in the Pro and Amateur matches combined.
Along with its main search engine, Google Inc. operates the Google Shopping web portal (www.google.com/shopping), where visitors can search for products offered by tens of thousands of online merchants. Google Shopping works great, unless you happen to be looking for gun stuff. You see, Google recently instituted a new policy blocking Google Shopping search results for many firearms-related products and accessories.
For example, searches for “ammunition”, “.308″, and “rifle” yield no results. This subject-matter-based filtering also stymies searches for prominent gun-makers, component suppliers, and gun accessory vendors. Google Shopping searches for “Beretta”, “Brownells”, “Glock”, “Nosler”, and “Winchester” all yielded this “fail” message: “Your search [term here] did not match any shopping results”. Google Shopping is even blocking results for “Leupold” — yet Leupold only makes optics. Whether you call this “filtering” or “black-balling”, the fact remains that Google Shopping is making judgments about what products (and vendors) shoppers will be allowed to view.
IMPORTANT: The firearm-related filtering ONLY is in place (for now) on the Google Shopping portal. The main Google search engine (www.google.com) still allows you to search for any keyword or search phrase. That means you can search for “rifle”, or “Glock”, or “Winchester” on the main Google search engine and you WILL get results.
Google Shopping Site Search Term Test
We did a quick sample of search terms on the Google Shopping site, testing a few dozen common terms for guns and firearms accessories. There were some surprising results, and many logical inconsistencies. “Rifle Shooting” was blocked, but “Shooting” returned results. “Reload” was blocked, but “Reloading” was allowed. Some filtering seems arbitrary. “Winchester” was blocked, but “Remington” worked. “Hornady” is blocked, but “RCBS” can be used. “Brownells” was blocked, but “Sinclair International” yielded results. “Nosler” is blocked, but “Sierra” was allowed. “Leupold” and “Weaver” are both blocked, but “Bushnell” and “Zeiss” are unrestricted. And spelling makes a difference. “Anschütz” is blocked, but “Anschutz” can be used. “Hollow Point” is blocked, yet “Hollowpoint” (as one word) is OK. You figure that out….
It’s hard to guess which search terms will work and which won’t, except you can be sure that most keyword phrases which include the terms “ammo”, “rifle”, or “firearm” will be censored. Likewise, most search terms based on cartridge types (Rimfire, 45 ACP etc.) or bullet diameters (5.56, 30 Caliber, 7mm etc.) are blocked. But you can still search for “gun”, oddly enough. And this editor can’t fathom why I can search for Bushnell, Zeiss, Swarovski, and Nikon, but not “Leupold”.
IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that this was NOT an exhaustive test of search terms, and Google could change or alter its “block list” at any time.
To explain its content-filtering system, Google Shopping recently sent an email to vendors around the country. As received by Hamlund Tactical and then posted on the web, that email declared:
Dear Merchant,
We’re writing to let you know about some upcoming changes to the product listings you submit to Google. As we recently announced, we are starting to transition our shopping experience to a commercial model that builds on Product Listing Ads. This new shopping experience is called Google Shopping. As part of this transition, we’ll begin to enforce a set of new policies for Google Shopping in the coming weeks. A new list of the allowed, restricted, and prohibited products on Google Shopping is available on our new policy page: http://www.google.com/appserve/mkt/ApI7UWRj6OCZpd.
Based on a review of the products you’re currently submitting, it appears that some of the content in your Merchant Center account, [Vendor Name], will be affected by these policy changes. In particular we found that your products may violate the following policies:
Weapons
When we make this change, Google will disapprove all of the products identified as being in violation of policies. We ask that you make any necessary changes to your feeds and/or site to comply, so that your products can continue to appear on Google Shopping.
To help you through this new set of policies and how to comply with them, we would like to give you some specific suggestions regarding the changes needed to keep your offers running on Google Shopping.
Weapons
As highlighted on our new policy page http://www.google.com/appserve/mkt/ApI7UWRj6OCZpd, in order to comply with the Google Shopping policies you need to comply first with the AdWords policies http://www.google.com/appserve/mkt/StQ08jAzM4fVtG. We do not allow the promotion or sale of weapons and any related products such as ammunitions or accessory kits on Google Shopping. In order to comply with our new policies, please remove any weapon-related products from your data feed and then re-submit your feed in the Merchant Center. For more information on this policy please visit http://www.google.com/appserve/mkt/GbBNIGHOribLzf.
To assist gun retailers and Federal Firearms licensees comply with the ever-growing web of governmental regulations, the NSSF has rolled out a new compliance info page at NSSF.org/compliance. The NSSF’s new Regulatory Compliance Resource Center now provides one convenient and centralized hub devoted to helping industry members operate their businesses in compliance with the ever-changing terrain of laws and regulations. The website offers an array of practical and essential compliance resources, including articles, videos, products and solutions, on-demand training courses, and much more. Federal Firearms Licensees can also access information about NSSF’s ATF compliance consultation program and NSSF-endorsed Firearms Business Insurance providing up to $25,000 in defense coverage against any ATF record-keeping or administrative action. The table below provides direct links to Compliance Center resources.
Forum member George (aka gcarbrera) let us know that complete Shooting Sports schedules for the 2012 London Olympic Games can now be viewed online. Olympic shooting events start on July 28, 2012 with Women’s 10m Air Rifle and Men’s 10m Air Pistol. The final rifle event, Men’s 50m 3-Position Finals, will be held August 6, 2012.
Most of you have seen the “I Like Guns” music video by Australian singer/songwriter Steve Lee. This politically-incorrect ballad was released a couple years back, but in this election year, we thought it deserved an encore performance. In the song, Lee describes his affection for guns large and small, from revolvers to shotguns to safari rifles to .22 LR plinkers.
Lee wrote the song, in part, to draw attention to the gun restrictions in his home country of Australia. As a result of those tough gun laws, ownership of semi-automatic rifles and many types of handguns is tightly regulated down under. Consequently, some of the sequences in Lee’s pro-gun music videos have been filmed in other countries.
Steve Lee grew up in outback NSW and guns have always been a part of his life. “I never knew that people didn’t have guns when I was a kid, it just seemed like a normal, practical thing to have and shooting seemed like a normal, fun thing to do”. Now 42, Steve hasn’t slowed up and still loves guns just as much. He’s a member of his local pistol club, and enjoys nothing more than spending a weekend camping and shooting with his family and friends. His love of guns has led him all over the world from Africa to America, all places that allowed him to experience freedom with different types of guns.
On his Ilikeguns.com.au website, Steve explains: “I really wanted … to help us reflect on the good aspects of gun ownership and remind us that guns are a part of our Australian heritage. Both my dad and my grandfather owned guns and never had any trouble.”
If you enjoyed the “I Like Guns” video, you’ll get a kick out of Steve’s recent release, “I’ve Shot Every Gun”. Steve wrote the lyrics, but the tune is based on the song “I’ve Been Everywhere’ written by Aussie Geoff Mack in 1959 and popularized by North American performers Hank Snow and Johnny Cash.
Bryan at Powder Valley Inc. (PVI) let us know that Powder Valley is offering a “Freedom Special” on July 4th. You get free shipping (exclusive of hazmat and insurance) for online orders (over $150) placed on July 4th. Bryan explains: “In celebration of Independence Day and the wonderful men and women who have fought for our great nation Powder Valley is offering free freight (does not include hazmat and insurance) on all orders over $150.00.”
IMPORTANT: To qualify, Orders must be placed ONLINE between 12:01 AM and 11:59 PM ET on July 4, 2012.. Don’t forget that, where required, hazmat fees and insurance costs will still charged with shipments.
Every summer at Camp Perry, Ohio, prior to the National Rifle and Pistol Trophy Matches, soldiers from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) take time to pass their knowledge on to the next generation of American shooters. The 
The day starts with classroom instruction and covers everything from the functioning of the weapon to proper positioning. The instructors, such as 2009 National Pistol Champion SFC James Henderson, are among the best in their respective shooting disciplines. After a few hours in the classroom, the students trek to the range and get a feel for the weapon in dry-fire simulation. There are two students per military instructor. Upon their return from lunch, students go to the range for live-fire practice.
Walther Will Continue to Build M&P22 Pistol
As most of you have noticed, [Sinclair has] brought out some interesting items in our recent Sinclair Summer Catalog. Introducing new products generally causes a lot of questions, and we really do enjoy answering them for you. One of our upcoming articles will be about the new Stainless Steel Tumbling Media. We will explain how to best use the new tumbling media, and will include pictures to help show you how to work with it.
Trailing by less than a second heading into the final stage, Horner shot superbly with his rifle, was very clean with pistol, and laid down a solid shotgun run. In three Pro Series Events this season, Horner has two wins and one second place, earning a total of $13,000 this season. Garcia cashed his second 3GN check of the season, totaling $8,000 after three events.
To assist gun retailers and Federal Firearms licensees comply with the ever-growing web of governmental regulations, the NSSF has rolled out a new compliance info page at 
Forum member George (aka gcarbrera) let us know that complete Shooting Sports schedules for the 2012 
Most of you have seen the “I Like Guns” music video by Australian singer/songwriter Steve Lee. This politically-incorrect ballad was released a couple years back, but in this election year, we thought it deserved an encore performance. In the song, Lee describes his affection for guns large and small, from revolvers to shotguns to safari rifles to .22 LR plinkers.
