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January 6th, 2010
 A new California law requiring that all new semi-auto handguns sold in California incorporate microstamping technology was to go into effect on January 1st, 2010. Many readers are concerned that this law will make it illegal to purchase new, self-loading handguns in California. However, because the law mandated technology which, thus far, has NOT been made available to pistol manufacturers, the law is NOT being applied for now. This was the case of misguided legislators passing a gun law requiring technology that didn’t really exist.
The NSSF reports: “Firearms microstamping, signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Calif.) in October 2007 and slated to take effect New Year’s Day (2010), is not in effect since the technology remains encumbered by patents.” Microstamping is the process by which firearms manufacturers must micro-laser-engrave a gun’s make, model and serial number on two distinct parts of each gun, including the firing pin, so that, in theory, this data is imprinted on the cartridge casing when the pistol is fired. By its terms, the microstamping law required that the technology be “patent-free” (as determined by the California Department of Justice) before the law could go into effect.
 The one company which has pioneered micro-stamping technology for pistols has NOT released its patents. Hence, by its own terms, California’s micro-stamping law is “dead on arrival”. However, last month the California Department of Justice nonetheless proposed new microstamping regulations, a move that was questioned by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) — the trade association for the firearms industry.
“In the midst of California’s budget crisis and despite the possibility this law may never go into effect — as the technology remains encumbered by patents — one has to question the decision by the California Department of Justice to spend its time and limited resources on drafting regulations for the flawed technology,” said NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane.
Opposition to microstamping has intensified as manufacturers have indicated the new law would force them to raise prices of guns significantly. Estimates of price increases go as high as $200 per firearm, as the unreliable technology would require a complete reconfiguring of the manufacturing and assembly processes.
CLICK HERE for more information on Firearms Microstamping.
January 5th, 2010
 Cerberus Capital Managment, through its Freedom Group holding company, has acquired yet another well-known gun industry company: Barnes Bullets. On December 31, 2009, Freedom Group, Inc. entered into a purchase agreement to acquire certain assets of Barnes Bullets.
In recent years, Cerberus/Freedom Group has acquired Remington, Bushmaster, Marlin, H&R, DMPS and other smaller firearms-related companies. By acquiring Barnes, the Freedom Group gains entry into the ammunition component business at a time when brass, bullets, and powder remain in high demand. As the Freedom Group continues to build a vertically integrated firearms-related mega-corp, one wonders if Cerberus will look to acquire a powder-maker next. Freedom Group already sells Remington-brand factory-loaded ammunition.
Barnes Bullets, located in Mona, Utah, is the industry-leading supplier of copper bullets, including copper-tin composite core bullets. Barnes is a major player in the “lead-free” bullet market. This has become important as lead-core bullets have been banned in many hunting areas, and lead-free bullets are required in many indoor shooting facilities. Barnes Bullets will continue day-to-day operations at Utah facility under the guidance of company founder, Randy Brooks.
Ted Torbeck, CEO of the Freedom Group, Inc. stated: “With the acquisition of Barnes, the Freedom Group continues to demonstrate our commitment to the ammunition business. Barnes offers a premium line of high performance bullets for the hunting and shooting communities; and for law enforcement, military and commercial consumers. We are excited about their R&D capabilities and the breadth of the products they bring to our portfolio.”
Freedom Group is now one of the world’s largest producers of guns and ammo. Freedom Group brands include Remington, Bushmaster, DPMS/Panther Arms, Marlin, H&R, NEF, LC Smith, Parker, EOTAC, AAC, Dakota and INTC. The company distributes its products throughout the U.S. and in over 80 foreign countries. Learn more at www.freedom-group.com.
January 4th, 2010
You never want to run the barrel of a precision rifle too hot. Excessive barrel heat kills accuracy, increases copper fouling, and can cause rapid barrel throat wear. Over the years people have devised various means to cool their barrels — from electric fans to dunking in tubs of ice water.
 But how do you know if your barrel is too hot? Consider a “non-contact” thermometer that reads your barrel’s “infrared signature”. The $20.00 Kintrex pocket-sized, non-contact IR thermometer is ideal for shooters at the range or in the prairie dog fields.
Just 3.2″ long, and weighing a mere 1.3 ounces, the waterproof Kintrex IRT0401 (IP67) is small enough to carry in your pocket, and will easily stow in any range bag/box. The unit measures from -67 to 428 °F (-55 to 220 °C). Given the low cost and compact size, we highly recommend you get one of these units.
KINTREX IRT0401 Compact Waterproof (IP67) Infrared Thermometer
Kintrex is a respected manufacturer that also makes larger hand-held IR thermometers for industrial and shop applications. Priced at just $19.95 on Amazon.com, the tiny Kintrex is one new gadget that every serious shooter should have. Given the cost of replacing barrels these days, can you afford NOT to have a good temp gauge for your match or varmint barrel?
If you have more room in your range kit, and want a larger unit with longer battery life for daily shop duty, we recommend the Kintrex IRT0421. A top-selling tool, this $47.08 unit has a full-sized pistol grip and features laser targeting for ultra-precise temp-gauging. It records temps from -76 °F all the way up to 932 °F (-60 to 500 °C). Black & Decker also offers the versatile TLD100 IR thermometer, which can be used for thermal leak detection in the home as well.
January 4th, 2010
Twitter.com is a popular service allowing people to share quick, short messages that can be read on the web or with a text-capable phone. On our new Twitter account, we’re using this new technology to share late-breaking updates. For example, minutes ago, your Editor was on the phone with Les Baer. He confirmed that Les Baer Custom will be producing Stiller-actioned tactical rifles early this year (2010). The rifles, chambered in .308 Win, 260 Rem, or .243 Win, are fitted with cut-rifled barrels made in Baer’s own shop. Initial testing has shown great accuracy.
Using Twitter, we can share this kind of news quickly in short, easy-to-read messages. If you want to read our latest “tweets”, visit: www.Twitter.com/accurateshooter. If you have a Twitter account you can also sign up to receive our posts with your phone.
January 1st, 2010
First, we’d like to wish all our readers a happy, safe, and prosperous New Year. We hope that, in 2010, you’ll have time to enjoy your precision rifles, and spend more time at the range, hopefully with good friends who share your “addiction to accuracy”.
Photo of classic Anschutz 22 Hornet by Forum Member Klenchblaize
2009 was a big year for the site. AccurateShooter.com is now being accessed by more than 60,000 users every week. This fall we completed a major upgrade, moving our Shooters’ Forum to a new dedicated server that is faster and more reliable. Our Forum is approaching 10,000 members and the Forum Classifieds section, with a new seller/buyer feedback system, is more active than ever. Likewise our Daily Bulletin has become hugely popular, drawing readers from around the globe. 365 days a year we offer a unique combination of shooting tips, gear reviews, industry news, and highlighted bargains and special sales. On the editorial side we’ve continued to publish in-depth profiles of interesting firearms, along with technical articles, and feature stories on leading shooters such as World F-TR Champion Russell Simmonds.
In the months ahead we plan to release more Cartridge Guides, plus major comparison tests on Chronographs, High-Magnification Scopes, and Rangefinders. And we’ll continue to offer timely match reports and inside “scoops” on the latest precision shooting products.
But to do all that, we need your support. For some five years the site has relied largely on volunteer efforts by dedicated shooters. But as the site grows, adding new types of content and more sophisticated features, we need the assistance of knowledgeable programmers, database experts and web designers. Those guys don’t work for glory alone.
For the site to continue to expand its content, we need to bring in paid helpers. Right now, the site reaches over 60,000 shooters every WEEK. If the majority of those users could provide a small donation every year, we could deliver MORE stories, MORE tests, MORE Gun of the Week features, and provide more of the photos and videos everyone enjoys. (Yes commercial sponsors help greatly, but their contributions alone won’t do the job.)
 In the past quarter a couple dozen guys have generously donated to the site. I want to again thank all those who have contributed. But that still leaves tens of thousands of users who access the site regularly without contributing.
Here’s my proposal. First, if you have used our FREE Classifieds to successfully sell your rifles or shooting gear, consider sending in a dollar or two from your sale proceeds. Second, for those who use the site regularly, consider donating One Dollar a Month. That’s less than the price of a cup of coffee and much less than many websites now charge for their “premium content areas”. Consider this — what do you pay for a movie ticket these days? Probably $8.00 or more for 90 minutes of escapism. For a buck a month you can help this site provide a YEAR’s worth of info, tests, and shooting news that you won’t find anywhere else.
Making a donation to the site is simple and easy. Just scoll down to the bottom of this page and click the DONATE Button to make a donation. If you have a credit card, you don’t need a Paypal account to contribute. Any sum is welcome — donations need not be large. If 20% of our readers gave even $5.00 a year we could hire a staffer to do research, create videos, and help with field tests.
If you don’t like Paypal, you can send a check. Make the check payable to our Asst. Editor Jason Baney, list your Forum Name (if any), and mail the check to:
Jason Baney
P.O. Box 308
Douglassville, PA 19518
January 1st, 2010
Starting today (1/1/10), at the request of readers with smartphones, we will offer important news and updates on Twitter. That’s right, you can now get late-breaking firearm and shooting news on Twitter.com. We hope to use this popular service for instant updates at SHOT Show 2010. Follow our Twitter posts (“tweets”) at http://twitter.com/AccurateShooter. You can even have our posts sent to your smart-phone or mobile device. If you have a Twitter account, click the button to be one of our regular followers.
December 28th, 2009
 The NSSF, through its “Step Outside” program, suggests you invite someone to go hunting or shooting this Holiday season. An outdoor shooting adventure can be more memorable than any gift that arrives in a box.
Through NSSF’s StepOutside.org web page, you can send a customized invitation to go hunting or shooting. Your e-mail invitation will feature an outdoor photograph with a personalized message from you.
CLICK HERE to Send a Hunting/Shooting Invitation to Friends or Family.
If you go on a shooting excursion before the end of the year (Dec. 31, 2009), you can enter the Step Outside Sweepstakes, and get a chance to win one of five $1,000 gift certificates to Bass Pro Shops. To be eligible, you must “mentor” a new shooter and complete a survey describing your experiences. Submission Deadline is January 1, 2010.
CLICK HERE to enter STEP OUTSIDE Sweepstakes
December 26th, 2009
 HUNTX3, a new all-digital hunting magazine, launched this week. You’ll find a full-featured website at HuntX3.com. There you can access gear reviews, videos, news feeds, and popular articles. But that’s just the beginning. The “heart” of HUNTX3 is a flash-based, interactive e-Zine that displays like a conventional print magazine with “double-truck” layouts, flip-page navigation, and full-page ads. The e-Zine even has embedded video and audio — and all content is FREE.
As a rule, we generally don’t favor these print-magazine mimicking formats. They take a long time to load, and seem less reader-friendly than conventional web pages. On the other hand, HUNTX3’s e-Zine layout allows for large photos, and impressive two-page spreads.
The premier issue of HUNTX3 Digital Magazine features many articles of interest for bow-hunters and big game hunters. There are excellent stories about elk hunting in Utah, Red Stag hunting in New Zealand, and Dall Sheep hunting in the Canadian Yukon.
High-Tech Hunt Planning with Google Earth
HUNTX3’s premier issue also includes a fascinating article by Toxie Givens explaining how to use Google Earth satellite photos to monitor game stands and plan a deer hunt. The article shows how you can define club boundaries, and plot the location of feeding stations, deer stands, and trail cameras. Using Google Earth, you can even mark locations where game has been taken in the past, link trail cam photos, and superimpose current weather conditions.
Givens explains: “I keep a record of the location where every deer is taken… for every year we have been hunting. This is great information to see where the most successful areas are on the club. Using Google Earth you can get the Weather Radar superimposed on your location. Furthermore Google Earth is capable of geo-caching [trail camera] photos to GPS points.”
December 25th, 2009
 We wish all of our readers a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. We hope you’re enjoying time with your family today, whether you’re basking in the sun in Australia, or shoveling snow up in Finland near the Arctic Circle.
We want to take this opportunity to thank all the folks who have generously donated to the site over the past year. (Please, if you’ve donated and are a Forum member, tell us your Forum “nickname” so we can acknowledge your contribution). This year we received roughly 225 donations, many from “repeat” contributors. Thank you all!
We also want to thank the many individuals who help this site by donating time and effort and/or writing articles. This includes Kelly Bachand, Charles Ballard, Jason Baney, Vince Bottomley, John Brewer, Mike Bryant, Brand Cole, Richard Franklin, Speedy Gonzales, “Graymist”, Sam Hall, Dan Lilja, Bryan Litz, Chris (“Techshooter”) Long, Larry Medler, Danny Reever, German Salazar, Russell Simmonds, and members of the USAMU. We also want to acknowledge the dozens of fine shooters who have helped us with the Guns of the Week features. They have spent much time and effort to bring you their stories and photos. And we want to say thanks to our commercial sponsors that have supported the site this year through advertising or donated items for auction. Last but definitely not least we should all thank the field testers who have volunteered reloading and range time to test loads and products: Jason Baney, Barry Bluhm, Joe Friedrich, Mark LaFevers, German Salazar, and Jerry Tierney.
December 24th, 2009
 Medal of Honor winner Col. Robert L. Howard passed away yesterday in Waco, Texas. Prior to his death, historians believed Howard was the most highly-decorated then-living American soldier. He was part of the Army Special Forces and ran cross-border operations in Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam. He was wounded 14 times in Vietnam and was awarded eight Purple Hearts.
He was nominated three separate times for the Medal of Honor, finally receiving the nation’s highest award in 1971. President Richard M. Nixon presented him with the honor for his bravery in Vietnam during a mission to rescue a missing soldier in enemy territory.
In addition to the MOH, Col. Howard held the following major decorations: Distinguished Service Cross (with one oak leaf cluster); Silver Star; Defense Superior Service Medal; Legion of Merit (with three oak leaf clusters); Bronze Star (with three oak leaf clusters and “V” device); Purple Heart (multiple with a silver and two bronze oak leaf clusters); Meritorious Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters); Air Medal (with “V” Device and numeral 3. One award for heroism and two for aerial achievement); Joint Service Commendation; Army Commendation Medal (with “V” device and one each silver and bronze oak leaf clusters. 4 awards for valor and 3 for achievement); Presidential Unit Citation (for Studies and Observations Group–SOG).
Howard also held many other U.S. service medals and Foreign Decorations, including the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry (with Gold, Silver, and Bronze citations).
After retiring from the Army, Col. Howard spent much of his free time working with veterans. He also took periodic trips to Iraq to visit active duty troops. Howard died of pancreatic cancer at a hospice in Waco, Texas on December 23, 2009.
CLICK HERE to learn more about Col. Howard and to read his Medal of Honor citation. As a staff sergeant of the highly-classified Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG), Howard was recommended for the Medal of Honor on three separate occasions during thirteen months spanning 1967–1968. The first two nominations were downgraded to the award of the Distinguished Service Cross due to the covert nature of the operations in which Howard participated.
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