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April 1st, 2011
 A recent scientific discovery in Washington State suggests that North America once harbored large colonies of giant, man-sized rodents — distant cousins to today’s prairie dogs. Earlier this month, while searching for dinosaur fossils, a field team of Yale University paleontologists uncovered a startling find — the skull of a massive prehistoric rodent, along with other skeletal remains.
The skull, nearly the size of a horse’s head, is almost identical in form to the skull of a modern-era prairie dog, though it is is more than 50 times as large. Apparently today’s Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs had some very large predecessors. Based on the size of the skull and other bones, scientists estimate that the giant prairie dogs could stand up to 7′ tall and weigh up to 350 pounds. In other words, this critter was man-sized. The giant rodents lived much like modern prairie dogs do today — grazing on vegetation and nesting underground in burrows. The giant skull was unearthed in Washington’s Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve. View More: Mima Mounds Aerial photo.
Mystery of Mima Mounds Finally Solved
Southwest of Seattle, near Littlerock, Washington, you’ll find the Mima Mounds, a vast field of clustered earthen mounds covering over 600 acres. Since their discovery (by whites) in the 18th century, the Mima Mounds have confounded scientific explanation — until now that is. The location of the giant prairie dog skull and bones inside one of the Mima Mounds indicates, with great certainty, that the mound field was created by a large colony of giant burrowing rodents. Scientists now believe that the Mima Mounds area is a prehistoric prairie dog field, created by the creatures scientists have nicknamed “Big Dogs”.
 NW Indian Legends Spoke of Giant Prairie Dogs
The presence of the giant prairie dogs at Mima Mounds is confirmed by Northwestern Indian legends describing a giant burrowing beast that stood as tall as a man, when raised on its hind legs. Researchers, who transcribed oral histories of the Sauk-Suiattle tribe, have recorded numerous references to a large, man-sized creature that burrowed underground. In the Suiattle language the beast was called “Chok-lahtle-wachook”, which, literally translated, means “Standing Man-Mouse”. A number of ancient Indian carvings and artifacts have depicted this creature (see photo at right), but cultural historians had not understood their significance. For decades the historians presumed Chok-lahtle-wachook was a wholly fictional man-beast, not a real species. Such mythical hybrid creatures are commonly revered as important totemic spirits by many Native American cultures. However, it now appears that Chok-lahtle-wachook really existed, and did so in great numbers.
Can Science Revive the Giant Prairie Dog?
The discovery of the giant prairie dog has electrified the scientific community because it appears that bone samples may contain recoverable DNA. And that means — you guessed it — there is a small chance that Chok-lahtle-wachook could be cloned. Geneticist Amy Moorwall of the Univ. of Washington explains: “These are not 100-million-year-old dinosaur bones. This creature lived in relatively recent times, so there is much more genetic material remaining that hasn’t completely fossilized. Initial inspection of bone marrow samples suggest that there may be viable, complete DNA strands that could be recovered. If that’s true, this could be one of our first opportunities to revive an extinct species.”
 Varmint Hunters Hope for Successful Cloning
Could Chok-lahtle-wachook once again stand tall upon America’s prairies through the application of modern genetic cloning technology? If so, that would be exciting news for the nation’s hunting community. Varmint hunting is hugely popular in North America, and the possibility of bagging a man-sized prairie dog would be a dream come true for avid varminters. Ryan Stanley of the Varmint Hunters’ Association (VHA) told us that his members hope that the giant prairie dog could be cloned successfully: “The VHA would definitely support a cloning effort. I bet we could raise the money to do it. Many of our members spend countless days, over many seasons, trying to earn a 1000-yard patch, signifying a confirmed varmint kill at 1000 yards. Getting that patch, for a varminter, is like a baseball player making it into Cooperstown. Needless to say, if VHA members have a chance to shoot at a 7-foot-tall, 300-pound varmint, instead of a puny little prairie dog, many more of our members will finally earn their 1000-yard patch.”
April 1st, 2011
 The Editors of AccurateShooter.com and a pantheon of legendary shooters have collaborated on a new book, Voodoo Accuracy, destined to become the definitive print resource for precision shooting. This new 666-page, full-color treatise compiles the wisdom of today’s greatest Hall of Fame and National Champion shooters. With the Voodoo knowledge of the world’s ‘top guns’ in your grasp, you can and will shoot more accurately no matter what your discipline.
Why do Voodoo? Sure you can spend hours, days, months, heck even a lifetime measuring stuff with calipers and trickling individual powder kernels, but you’re not going to win the big matches without access to the closely-guarded Voodoo secrets of the world’s master marksmen. Remember, there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your reloading manuals!
For the first time ever, Voodoo Accuracy reveals the hidden shooting secrets of the greatest trigger-pullers of all time. Now you too can shoot like a legend! Find out how to win matches without ever practicing! Apply Voodoo reloading techniques with startling results! Voodoo Accuracy contains chapters on all major forms of competitive shooting, from 25m air rifle benchrest to ultra-long range tactical competitions. Whatever your sport — point-blank benchrest, High Power, F-class, Silhouette, Palma, Multi-Gun, Biathlon, 1000-yard Benchrest — you’ll find invaluable Voodoo insights that will transform your shooting abilities overnight. We guarantee it!
Voodoo Accuracy Chapter Highlights:
● Extreme Wind Calling — How to dope a hurricane.
● Barrel Break-In — Sure-fire 50-step, 1000-round method.
● Ogive Talkin’ — More incomprehensible Ballistology by Bryan Litz.
● Point-Blank Pointers — Feng Shui and the placement of Wind Flags.
● Why Weigh Charges? — How to throw perfect charges blind-folded.
● Powder Blending Basics — Have a BLAST with the Mix-Master method.
● For FTR, Size Matters — Six-foot-wide, servo-adjusting bipods by Danny Biggs.
● Hall of Fame Headgear — The effect of dorky hats on Group Size, by Tony Boyer.
● Barrel Tuning — Voodoo Methods demonstrated (results guaranteed non-repeatable).
● Tactical Gearfinder — Be the first on your block with the latest, overpriced Tacticool accessories.
● .30-06 — THE solution to everything, including the economy and Global Warming, by G. Salazar.
● Voodoo Annealing — How to anneal by instinct (worrying about time and temperature is for sissies).
Here’s a sample from our chapter on the Joys of Abrasives: “We all learned as kids that shiny is good. Well it is. And more shiny is even better. Why settle for a bore that has anything less than a mirror finish? Just do a quick high-pressure bead-blast down your bore, followed by few thousand strokes with JB, and your bore will be perfectly slick and shiny. And you won’t have to waste any more time with those annoying lands and grooves that trap carbon and copper. They’re gone for good! Polish your bore to a mirror finish for the ultimate in barrel cleanliness.”
 Order Your Own Copy of Voodoo Accuracy
Voodoo Accuracy comes in a handsome, large-format hardback edition for $49.99. There is also a special, limited-run letterbox edition signed by Hall of Famers so legendary we can’t even mention their names here. The letterbox edition, limited to 250 copies, will cost $299.99. Think that’s too much? Well who can put a price on perfection? We guarantee that if you buy Voodoo Accuracy you’ll win early and often, feeding your self-esteem while reducing your shooting rivals to whimpering, broken shells of their former selves. Remember, as Charlie Sheen said, it’s all about “Winning”! If you want to run with the Big Dogs, and strut your stuff on top of the podium, order your copy of Voodoo Accuracy today!
March 31st, 2011
 When you purchase expensive optics, you need to be careful about who you deal with, and what you buy. There are an increasing number of forgeries coming in from various parts of Asia. Just recently, three executives of Field Sport Inc. were charged with ‘selling a counterfeit mark’, in connection with Field Sport’s importation of fake EoTech riflescopes. Earlier this month, 900 counterfeit EoTech sights/magnifiers were discovered by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers inspecting a shipment from China. The Field Sports execs were charged with multiple felonies.
BusinessWeek.com reported:
Now a fugitive believed to be in China, Yongming “Steven” Sui, 53, chief executive officer of Field Sport Inc., was charged by state prosecutors with two felony counts — manufacturing and selling a counterfeit mark (a form of trademark infringement) and possession of an assault weapon. Also charged in the state criminal complaint were Sui’s colleagues — co-owner Isaac Cheuk Hang Tse, 65, of Rowland Heights, and Pao Sheng Yang, 34, of Corona, the firm’s business manager. Both are alleged to have engaged in manufacturing and selling a counterfeit mark and possessing an assault weapon.
Many Counterfeit Optics for Sale on Internet
In addition to this EoTech situation, there appear to be many other examples of counterfeit optics entering the United States. The Firearm Blog did a quick web search, and found numerous imitation EoTech and Leupold scopes advertised on Alibaba.com, a wholesale site part-owned by web giant Yahoo.com. We suspect the fakes found by the Firearm Blog on Alibaba.com are just the tip of the iceberg. Below is just one of many fakes AccurateShooter.com found on Alibaba.com today (3/30/2011). A 3.5-10x40mm Leupold MK4 M3 Scope is advertised for sale for $750.00:
There’s no way you’re going to get a genuine illuminated Leupold MK4 for $750.00 and we can tell you that the real things don’t come from Indonesia, where this seller is located. We confirmed today with Leupold that ALL MK4 scopes are still made in the USA. The genuine Leupold 3.5-10x40mm MK4 LR/T M3 sells for about $1350.00 in the USA:
If you have any concerns about the authenticity of a Leupold scope you plan to purchase, ask the seller for the SERIAL NUMBER. Then call Leupold support at 1-800-Leupold. Leupold will trace the serial number and determine positively whether the scope is genuine or conterfeit.
Credit to The Firearm Blog for flagging this story.
March 31st, 2011
The official centennial of J.M. Browning’s 1911 pistol was March 29th, 2011, 100 years to the day since the legendary handgun was adopted by the U.S. Army. (The U.S.M.C. and U.S. Navy adopted the 1911 pistol roughly two years later). To celebrate the 100th birthday of what many experts believe is the greatest self-loading pistol ever made, Colt created a spectacular, fully-engraved “Anniversary Edition” pistol. It’s pimped to the max, complete with gold inlay and genuine ivory grips. The gun is currently up for auction at Gunbroker.com with proceeds to benefit the NRA Foundation.
Price? If You Have to Ask…
Want it? Well you may have to liquidate your 401(k) to buy it. Current bid price is $33,635.00 and a similar fully-engraved Anniversary 1911 sold for $83,025.00 three months ago. See January Auction.
March 30th, 2011
Mark your calendar. The NRA Annual Meeting, to be held April 28 through May 1 in Pittsburgh, PA, is just one month away. The 2011 NRA Annual Meeting features nearly 500 displays of firearms, shooting accessories, and hunting gear. Most major domestic firearm companies will have their complete line-up on display. With over 310,000 square feet of exhibit space, there’s something for everyone. You can check out new handguns, view tactical and sporting rifles, book a hunting trip, or browse heirloom arms in the gun collector area. The Meeting is FREE for all NRA members (however some special events require ticket purchase). To see the exhibitor list, view the floor plan, check the seminar schedule, or reserve event tickets, go to NRAAM.org, the official NRA Meeting website.
Pyramyd Air Offers Indoor Shooting Range All Four Days
The meeting officially opens at 2:00 pm on April 28. Early birds should head straight to Pyramyd Air’s Air Gun Range for some indoor shooting fun. On the 28th, you can also check out the lobby exhibits, get tickets for major events, and shop at the NRA Store. On Thursday you can beat the crowds by registering early. Attendee Registration on Thursday runs from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Registration resumes at 8:00 am each morning for the next three days (Fri, Sat, Sun).
Major ticketed events at the Annual Meeting include: NRA Foundation Banquet (April 28, 5:00 pm), 5th Annual NRA-ILA Auction (April 29, 6:00 pm, Heinz Field), NRA Celebration of American Values (April 30, 7:30 pm, CONSOL Energy Center), NRA Annual Prayer Breakfast (7:00 am, May 1, Wyndham Hotel).
Volunteers Needed
NRA is seeking volunteers to help at the 2011 NRA Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh. Volunteer opportunities include working at the Air Gun Range, staffing the membership counters, and stocking shelves in the stores to name just a few. For more information, contact Dennis Eggers, Annual Meeting Volunteer Coordinator, at 270-522-0909.
March 29th, 2011
Tracy Barnes of Durango, Colorado beat the very best biathletes in the world in the Shoot-Out phase the Veltins World Team Challenge in Schalke, Germany. The World Team Challenge, held annually in the Veltins Arena, is the equivalent of the SuperBowl of Biathlon. Tracy grabbed top honors in the prestigious Shoot-Out event, a shooting competition for the top 20 biathletes in the world. In this invitation-only event, 10 women competed head-to-head in a four-stage shooting event duplicating the format for a regular biathlon race (two prone, two standing). In the final round of competition, the top three ladies from the preliminary round face off with the top three men from the mens’ first round. Tracy came in 1st for the women’s round AND 1st in the final competition!
Laser Rifles Used in Shoot-Out
This year, the athletes and the 50,000 spectators at the Veltins Soccer Stadium had to adjust to something new — this was the first time that laser-rifles replaced the traditional .22-caliber rifle. The athletes received their laser-rifles on Saturday and had only one day to practice before the World Team Challenge. Tracy and her U.S. teammate Tim Burke finished 9th in the pairs mass start and 10th in the pursuit race held the same day. Tracy’s personal support team (her husband Gary and her Dad) accompanied her to Germany for this major biathlon event. [Editor’s note: While we don’t want to diminish Tracy’s accomplishment in any way, we think it is unfortunate that event organizers mandated laser guns instead of .22 LR rimfire rifles. Biathlon started as a military training competition. To change from actual shooting to “lasering” is a step in the wrong direction in our opinion.]
Lanny Barnes Stars in Mammoth Lakes Biathlon Festival
Meanwhile, back in the USA, Tracy’s twin sister Lanny Barnes traveled to Mammoth Lakes, California on friday to help with biathlon clinics for several hundred new biathletes ages 10+ and competed in a race at a new biathlon course in Mammoth Lakes on Sunday. Due to the town receiving close to 10ft of snow during the week, flights were canceled and Lanny wasn’t able to make it in for the clinic. She helped with the kids, adults, wounded warrior, and disabled skier biathlon race on Saturday and competed in an elite race on Sunday. She won the race on Sunday that was filmed by Versus and Outdoor Channel and American Trigger Sports Network. Tracy was impressed by Mammoth Lakes — she says it is evolving into one of the best high-altitude biathlon venues in the country. With over 200+ volunteers that dug out the range buried by mountains of snow, the Mammoth Lakes crew put on one of the most professional and exciting biathlon events ever run in the United States.
Twin Biathletes Continue Training for Next Winter Olympics
The twins ended their seasons after those two events and will now take a two week break before starting up their training again for the 2011/2012 season. With three short years until the next Winter Oympics, the twin will be training hard in hopes of winning gold in Sochi, Russia in 2014.
Photos provided courtesy Tracy and Lanny Barnes, rights otherwise reserved by copyright holders.
March 29th, 2011
CDNN Investments recently released its new 2011-1 Catalog. As we’ve come to expect from CDNN, the new catalog is full of deeply-discounted pistols, rifles, shotguns, optics, magazines, gunstocks — plus myriad other gun parts and accessories. CDNN typically buys overstock or obsolete inventory from manufacturers and then resells these items — often at prices way below normal retail. You should download the 2011-1 catalog and see for yourself. Along with the firearm bargains, we found some amazing deals on shooting accessories. Here are a few…
Sllencio Ear Muffs Just $4.69
First, CDNN is offering Silencio EarMuffs for just $4.69 (or $3.99 for 6 units or more). If you help run a gun club or junior shooting program, and you need a large quantity of ear muffs — here’s your opportunity. You can buy a dozen muffs for just $47.88. Stellar deal.
Quality Kydex Holster for $9.99
Next, CDNN offers Uncle Mike’s molded Kydex straight-drop holster for just $9.99. This Editor owns this very same holster and I use it for general range practice and IDPA matches. I really like the straight drop which allows the holster to be used in multiple strong-side positions as well as cross-draw. This holster fit my Glock perfectly (way better than a $95.00 BladeTech holster I used to own). Don’t be fooled by the low price, this is a very good holster, with a better fit to the gun than many $100 holsters. Check the advert for availability for your Glock, Beretta, HK, or S&W M&P. If you can’t find a CDNN sale item to fit, you can normally get these holsters for under $22.00 at gunshops.
Better Grip for Your AR — Just $14.99
One of the first things many AR15 shooters do is replace the standard plastic pistol grip, with something that fills the hand better. One of our favorite replacement grips for AR platform rifles is the MFG Grip from Israel. Much more ergonomic than the standard grip, the MFG was originally developed for Israeli Special Forces. It features a stippled back, finger groove, and an internal storage compartment with trap door. It’s on sale at CDNN for just $14.99.
Hi-Viz 52″ Rifle Case Only $18.99
The last item that caught our eye is a Burnt Orange 52″-long plastic rifle case. This Plano-made gun case is lockable and airline-approved. Why would you want a bright-colored rifle case? Well, at a well-attended match you’ll often see dozens of virtually identical rifle cases. If your case is orange while all the others are black, there’s less chance someone may walk away with your rifle by mistake. And Airport thieves are less-inclined to grab a bright-colored case that is easy to spot at a distance.
CLICK HERE to Download Latest CDNN 2011-1 Catalog (34 meg PDF file).
March 28th, 2011
 Hornady Manufacturing recently received the coveted “Golden Keiler 2010 Jager (Hunter) Award” for Hornady’s innovative Superformance® ammunition. The award was presented at the 2011 IWA & Outdoor Classics show in Nuremberg, Germany. “It is an honor to have been selected to receive this award,” said Jason Hornady, a Vice President of Hornady.
Superformance ammo, now offered in 20+ calibers, features custom-blended powders tailored for particular cartridge and bullet combinations. Some of these blends consist of regularly available powders, but Hornady actually commissioned some new custom propellents that are not available to the general public. First introduced in 2009, Superformance ammunition was created to deliver extra speed. In some cartridge types, Superformance ammo runs as much as 200 fps faster than conventional factory ammunition loaded with the same bullets. You can usually count on getting at least 100 fps additional speed compared to factory ammo from from Federal, Remington, and Winchester.
How does Hornady deliver such high speeds with its Superformance ammo? That is explained in detail in AccurateShooter.com’s 2009 Interview with Dave Emary, Hornady’s Senior Ballistician. Emery identified five main factors that yield the enhanced performance:
- Superformance ammo uses advanced new Ball Powders (not yet for sale).
- The powders are BLENDED, with different “recipes” for different cartridges.
- The new powders maintain high-energy longer in barrel (like Reloder 17).
- The new powders burn almost completely, reducing ejecta, for less exit pressure, and less felt recoil.
- Superformance ball propellants pack very densely, so more grains of powder can fit inside a case, compared to typical extruded stick powders.
March 25th, 2011
 In a major policy change, which could have a ripple effect in the outdoor industry, major catalog retailer L.L. Bean announced on 3/24/2011 that it will offer free shipping on virtually all products, all the time. This free shipping policy was a because L.L. Bean found that 25% or more of its web customers abandoned online orders once they saw the shipping charges in their online shopping cart. L.L. Bean’s website now declares: “Free Shipping: No minimum order, no end date, just free.”
Currently, Cabelas.com regularly offers free shipping promotions, and Amazon.com offers free shipping on major orders totalling $25.00 or more. The adoption by L.L. Bean of an “All free shipping, all the time” is expected to put pressure on other catalogers to follow suit. This may be a good thing for shooters, whose products may be heavier, on average, than the typical consumer purchasing clothing, or travel accessories.
Free Shipping is a Growing Trend in Online Retailing
According to Businessweek.com, we can expect more large companies to offer free shipping: “Andrew Lipsman, an analyst at Internet research firm comScore Inc., says the industry is moving in that direction. He says that in in 2009, 30 to 35 percent of online holiday purchases involved free shipping; this past holiday season, the figure grew to 40 to 45 percent.”
March 24th, 2011
 The Freedom Group, Inc. (FG) announced that Bushmaster Firearms Int’l production has been moved to the Freedom Group’s Ilion, New York facility, where Remington rifles (and other FG family brand firearms) are crafted. Bushmaster guns were previously built in Bushmaster’s Windham, Maine factory which is slated to close its doors at the end of this month, with a loss of 73 jobs. Freedom Group expects to create 40-50 new positions at the Ilion, New York facility as a result of the relocation.
The Freedom Group is one of the largest firearms manufacturers in the world. Among its product brands are: Remington, Bushmaster, DPMS/Panther Arms, Marlin, H&R, Parker, EOTAC, Mountain Khakis, AAC, and Dakota. A Freedom Group press release states: “The Bushmaster brand and products remain key strategic assets within the Freedom Group portfolio. The manufacturing relocation will have no impact on customers or the existing supply base”. John Trull, the Freedom Group’s Firearms Marketing VP, added: “We are committed to the Bushmaster brand, its core product offerings and bringing innovative new Bushmaster firearms to our customers.”
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