Gunway.com, an online social network site designed to share information about firearms and outdoor activities, was launched on November 14, 2011. “Gunway represents a radical shift,” says Gunway’s CEO, Charlie Pratt. “We set out to create a world-class niche network that raises the levels of information and functionality.” Gunway’s beta release is built on two core features: People & Questions. Users create their own profiles – public or private – to share photos, links, and information. The Questions feature allows them to post questions and receive answers from anyone.
“The major networks have grown too large, intrusive, and overwhelming,” says Pratt. “We envisioned something that requires much less information from its users and has a clear purpose.”
Editor’s Comment: We always welcome new additions to the online firearms community. However, with hundreds of firearms Blogs and Forums already in existence, we’re not quite sure what Gunway.com brings to the table. Questions about specific firearms, hunting gear, and reloading methods are best addressed to special interest Forums such as SavageShooters.com, LongRangeHunting.com, and the AccurateShooter.com Forum. If people need to find a range, there are existing resources such as WhereToShoot.org. Still, it will be interesting to see how Gunway.com evolves. Hopefully, as its membership grows, Gunway.com will become a useful resource for gun owners and sportsmen.
Smart phones and flat-screen TVs weren’t the only things flying off retailers’ shelves during the recent “Black Friday” sales fest. Americans bought firearms in record numbers on Black Friday 2011. The FBI recorded 129,166 firearm background requests on November 25, 2011, an all-time, single-day high. That’s 32% higher than any day on record, exceeding the previous one-day high of 97,848 background checks on Black Friday of 2008. (Note: The actual number of firearms purchased, in all likelihood, exceeds the number of background checks, because one buyer can purchase multiple guns with a single background check.)
No one really knows why gun sales went through the roof this shopping season. Many large vendors, such as Cabela’s, offered deep discounts. Also hit cable television shows such as Top Shot and Sons of Guns have popularized shooting, emphasizing the “cool factor” of gun ownership. These TV series stirred interest in firearms among many Americans who, just a few years ago, had limited awareness of hunting and the shooting sports.
Women and First-Time Buyers Drive Sales
Statistics suggest that newcomers to shooting (and first-time buyers) are driving the increase in sales. USA Today reports: “Some gun industry analysts attributed the unusual surge to a convergence of factors, including an increasing number of first-time buyers seeking firearms for protection and women who are being drawn to sport shooting and hunting.”
According to the NSSF’s Larry Keane, “I think there also is a burgeoning awakening of the American public that they do have a constitutional right to own guns.” Keene noted that 25% of sales are going to first-time buyers, many of whom are women. This is a good thing for the shooting sports. As more females acquire firearms for both personal defense and for recreational use, we can expect the ranks of female competitive shooters to grow.
Through the end of December, MidwayUSA is running an exclusive promotion for AccurateShooter.com readers. This is a sweet deal: you get $10.00 off any order of $50.00 or more. This applies to regular-priced, in-stock inventory only (no discount on sale items, clearance items or back-order items). To get this exclusive discount for our readers, simply use Promo Code 5161171 during “check-out” when shopping online.
This discount applies to web orders only (no discounts on phone or fax orders). In addition, Nightforce and FNH products, and gift certificates, do not count towards the total. For more information, view MidwayUSA’s Special Discount Page. The discount can only be used once per customer and it expires at 11:59 pm CT on December 31, 2011.
Glenn Beck and Lt. Gen. Boykin Host Events
The NRA Celebration of American Values Freedom Experience has two great speakers lined up for 2012. Back by popular demand is television host Glenn Beck and joining him in 2012 will be one of America’s favorite comedians, Larry the Cable Guy. The 2012 Prayer Breakast will feature Lt. General (U.S. Army Ret.) Jerry Boykin as the Keynote Speaker and will include Mr. Chuck Buck, Chairman of Buck Knives and country music star Bryan White. To order tickets for any of these events, log on to www.nraam.org, or call 877-672-7632.
The CMP has issued the following invitation to shooting team coaches and their team members:
“You and your shooters are cordially invited to participate in the 2011 Gary Anderson Invitational, to be hosted at both the CMP Competition Center South in Anniston, Alabama, and at the CMP Competition Center North at Camp Perry, Ohio. The match is a junior three-position air rifle match that is a sanctioned CMP Cup Match and an outstanding competition opportunity for every school or junior club shooting team. This event is named after the former Director of the Civilian Marksmanship Gary Anderson, whose influence and guidance has significantly impacted the success of three-position air rifle shooting. We sincerely hope you and your team will join us in Anniston (Alabama) or at Camp Perry (Ohio) in December for a great competition.”
Gary Anderson earned two Olympic gold medals, seven world championships, six world records, and 16 National championships. No other American has won more Olympic and world championship three-position rifle titles. Anderson transitioned from world champion to mentor — helping train thousands of US shooters, young and old, civilian and military alike. Anderson served as Director of Civilian Marksmanship from 1999 through December 2009. Today Anderson serves as DCM Emeritus for the CMP, President of the Board of USA Shooting, and Vice President of the International Shooting Sports Federation.
Nikon has raised the bar in Spotting Scope technology. It has introduced the first-ever spotters with built-in Vibration Reduction. This may be a significant breakthrough. Image stabilization has revolutionized hand-held photography, and it could definitely improve the practical functioning of spotting scopes. If you have ever used a big, heavy spotting scope, you know that it is easy to induce vibration and shaking — merely with a heavy hand on the focus knob. And when the wind blows, a big scope acts like a sail, so it can wobble and vibrate in gusts. Just a small amount of shake or vibration can make it difficult to see your target, slowing down your target acquisition time considerably.
Nikon’s new 85mm EDG Fieldscopes are the first spotting scopes on the planet with lens-adjusting image stabilization. The EDGs employ a lens-shift type VR (Vibration Reduction) system that counters vibration and shaking. According to Nikon, the EDG VR system greatly reduces external vibrations caused by wind and the operational vibrations occurring during focusing, panning and tilting. Nikon claims its VR system reduces vibration to 1/8th the level of a conventional spotting scope.
HOW IT WORKS — This system uses two independent Angular Velocity sensors to detect pitching (vertical movement) and yawing (horizontal movement). Both sensors then detect diagonal movements. Upon the detection of movement, the sensors provide instructions to the two Voice Coil Motors (VCM) that command and control the Vibration Reduction-optical system to eliminate the shake or blurring. These sensors can detect movement every 1/1000 second. The system can effectively reduce vibrations by roughly 88% (compared to a conventional spotting scope), providing the equivalent of a shutter speed approximately two stops faster.
So how much does this new VR technology cost? Hold on to your hat — MSRP for the 85mm EDG VRs (either body style) is a shocking $5,499.95! At least that includes eyepiece and protective case. We can only hope that, as this technology matures, it will be implemented at much lower cost. Consider that $200.00 point-and-shoot cameras now offer image stabilization. Given time, we can expect the vibration reduction systems to go down in price, and to become commonplace in premium spotting scopes.
Available in a straight or angled body, the all-new EDG VR Fieldscopes come standard with a 20-60x Zoom Eyepiece, ED (Low-Dispersion) glass, and multi-coated lenses. The 85mm EDGs feature a five-meter close focus distance and waterproof, fogproof construction. Weighing in at just over 84 ounces (w/o batteries), the straight-body EDG is 14.9″ long, while the angled version is 15.7″ long. Nikon’s VR system takes four AA batteries which provide roughly 17 hours of battery life with alkaline batteries and up to 32 hours with lithium. While the VR function can be manually activated, an auto power-off function helps conserve battery life. Seven optional EDG eyepieces are available. Three tripod mount screw holes permit flexible mounting.
Bartlein Barrels is giving the U.S. F-Class Open Rifle Team over $15,000 worth of barrels. Shiraz Balolia, Team Captain states: “We are lucky in the United States to have a company that produces such precisely crafted barrels. Bartlein’s sponsorship affords our team every advantage to bring home the gold in the 2013 World Championships. These barrels are superior!” Many of the top F-Class shooters in the world have a Bartlein in their barrel inventory. In the recent European Championships, nine out of the top 10 shooters used Bartlein barrels. Numerous world and U.S. national records have been set with Bartlein barrels, and the U.S. Team highly recommends them.
The U.S. team Captain, Shiraz Balolia, knows first hand how Bartlein barrels perform. Check out the Captain’s 300-yard National Record set in 2008 using his custom 6XC rifle outfitted with a Bartlein barrel. In a registered match, he shot an absolute perfect score on an F-Class target: 200 with 20 Xs. He then kept shooting, as allowed by NRA rules, and shot six more Xs before a 10 leaked out! (Target photo below.) More recently, Robert Bock, the previous U.S. F-Class Open Team Captain, set a new 1000-yard record, 150 with 12 Xs, at the 2011 F-Class Nationals in Lodi, WI.
The U.S. F-Class team thanks Bartlein Barrels for their generous sponsorship and invites all shooting enthusiasts to visit the team’s website, USfclass.com and watch as the team continues to prepare for the World Championships.
Remington Arms Company, has opened a new online retail store: Remington Country, USA. The new webstore features an expanded line of exclusive Remington products, art work, gifts, outdoor gear, and shooting accessories. The Remington Country webstore officially opens Monday, November 28, 2011 — just in time for the holiday season. At ShopRemingtonCountry.com you’ll find Remington’s “Deal of the Day”, plus select products, and even links to videos.
To learn more about Remington rifles and other products, visit www.remington.com.
Story by Chad Adams for3GunNation.com Blog
Eight Multi-Gun Competitors will be competing for the $50,000 top prize at the 3-Gun Nation (3GN) Championship in Las Vegas on January 18, 2012 (during SHOT Show Week). Eight competitors punched their tickets to Las Vegas for the 3-Gun Nation Finale by winning elimination matches held at Peacemaker National Training Center (Glengary, WV) earlier this month. The winner of the 3GN Shoot-Off Finale will receive a huge payday — $50,000 from Leupold Tactical Optics and NBC Sports.
Rustin Bernskoetter, Taran Butler, Jeff Cramblit, Mark Hanish, Tyler Payne, Phil Strader,Tommy Thacker, and Mike Voigt all qualified for the 3GN Shoot-Off Finale via wins during the elimination round. Thacker was paired against current 3GN Champion Dan Horner of the USAMU. Horner finished the course faster, but the young soldier later conceded the match to Thacker after footage showed that Horner had failed to knock down one of the targets. In another notable one-on-one 3GN elimination at Peacemaker NTC, our buddy Taran Butler knocked off legendary Jerry Miculek. Anytime Jerry Miculek doesn’t make it into the finals, you know the competition is tough.
The road to the 3GN Championship began last September, as competitors have compiled series points at major 3-gun matches across the country. The top 64 competitors were invited to compete in the 3GN Championship Match (at Peacemaker NTC), a one-day Tactical Optics event that featured four stages of fire—each with all three guns.
In what most are calling the deepest 3-gun field ever assembled, the top 16 advanced into the Shoot-Off elimination round. Now the Las Vegas eight will compete for the highest cash payout in the history of the sport, with $50,000 going to the 3-Gun Nation Champion, courtesy of Leupold and NBC Sports. To learn more about 3-Gun competition, watch the video below in which Jerry Miculek, Mike Voigt, and Maggie Reese discuss the 3-Gun Nation shoot-off and the struggles of head-to-head competition.
Larry and Brenda Potterfield of MidwayUSA, Inc. recently donated $900,000 to the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) to support youth shooting programs. This latest donation augments the $1,600,000 the Potterfields donated in November 2010, making a total of $2.5 Million given to the SSSF in the past two years. Last year, the Potterfields also donated $1 million to the National Wild Turkey Foundation (NWTF) to support youth shooting programs.
The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) is an educational-athletic organization that exists to introduce school-age youths to the clay target sports and to facilitate their continued involvement by providing opportunities to safely and enjoyably participate and compete in a high-quality, team-based sport led by trained adult coaches.
Larry Potterfield, Founder and CEO of MidwayUSA, remarked, “Teaching our youth about shooting and shooting safety will ensure a better future for America. Brenda and I are proud to partner with SSSF and their efforts to change the future by engaging youths through scholastic shooting programs.”
Women and First-Time Buyers Drive Sales
The 
“You and your shooters are cordially invited to participate in the 2011 Gary Anderson Invitational, to be hosted at both the CMP Competition Center South in Anniston, Alabama, and at the CMP Competition Center North at Camp Perry, Ohio. The match is a junior three-position air rifle match that is a sanctioned CMP Cup Match and an outstanding competition opportunity for every school or junior club shooting team. This event is named after the former Director of the Civilian Marksmanship Gary Anderson, whose influence and guidance has significantly impacted the success of three-position air rifle shooting. We sincerely hope you and your team will join us in Anniston (Alabama) or at Camp Perry (Ohio) in December for a great competition.”
Gary Anderson earned two Olympic gold medals, seven world championships, six world records, and 16 National championships. No other American has won more Olympic and world championship three-position rifle titles. Anderson transitioned from world champion to mentor — helping train thousands of US shooters, young and old, civilian and military alike. Anderson served as Director of Civilian Marksmanship from 1999 through December 2009. Today Anderson serves as DCM Emeritus for the CMP, President of the Board of USA Shooting, and Vice President of the International Shooting Sports Federation.
Bartlein Barrels is giving the U.S. F-Class Open Rifle Team over $15,000 worth of barrels. Shiraz Balolia, Team Captain states: “We are lucky in the United States to have a company that produces such precisely crafted barrels. Bartlein’s sponsorship affords our team every advantage to bring home the gold in the 2013 World Championships. These barrels are superior!” Many of the top F-Class shooters in the world have a Bartlein in their barrel inventory. In the recent European Championships, nine out of the top 10 shooters used Bartlein barrels. Numerous world and U.S. national records have been set with Bartlein barrels, and the U.S. Team highly recommends them. 
Rustin Bernskoetter, Taran Butler, Jeff Cramblit, Mark Hanish, Tyler Payne, Phil Strader,Tommy Thacker, and Mike Voigt all qualified for the 3GN Shoot-Off Finale via wins during the elimination round. Thacker was paired against current 3GN Champion Dan Horner of the USAMU. Horner finished the course faster, but the young soldier later conceded the match to Thacker after footage showed that Horner had failed to knock down one of the targets. In another notable one-on-one 3GN elimination at Peacemaker NTC, our buddy Taran Butler knocked off legendary Jerry Miculek. Anytime Jerry Miculek doesn’t make it into the finals, you know the competition is tough.
