Veterans and Servicemen Admitted Free to National Parks on Nov. 11

This coming Sunday, November 11th, is Veterans Day. We suggest you take time on Sunday to remember all of those who have served their country in the military. As a way of honoring veterans and current military personnel, on Nov. 11th, the National Park Service will provide FREE National Park admission to ALL military personnel, active and retired, AND their families. This extends to all 391 Park service areas nationwide. Many National Park Service battlefields and historic sites commemorate the services of American veterans. Click HERE for more info on these historic sites.

Young Shooters Get Started on ShootingUSA

This week, the “Sighting In” segment of ShootingUSA focuses on youth shooting. The television broadcast features youth shooting organizations, and explains how to fit rifles and shotguns properly to young shooters of small stature. The episode also spotlights the appropriate types of arms for young marksmen, including air rifles, 22LRs, and centerfire guns chambered with light-recoiling cartridges such as the .223 Remington. CLICK HERE for links to youth shooting organizations profiled in the episode. ShootingUSA airs Wednesday nights on the Outdoor Channel at: 8:30 pm and 12:30 am Eastern Time, 7:30/11:30 pm Central Time, 6:30/10:30 pm Mountain Time, and 5:30/9:30 pm Pacific Time.

Venison Recipes for Hunters

It’s hunting season, and we expect many of you will be bringing home deer meat for the table. Peterson’s Hunting magazine offers four popular venison recipes that will turn your “fruit of the hunt” into a gourmet meal. Our favorite is the Southwestern Venison Roast cooked dutch-oven style.

Our love for venison is long-standing, according to author Cherie Eby: “In fact, long before chicken, beef, pork and lamb came to define meat, venison was the most readily available source of protein around. And for 50,000 years we’ve been dining on it in one form or another.”

Two dozen other wild game recipes, including Elk Roast, Jagerschnitzel, and Garlic Duck, are found on Hunting’s “Cook Shack” page. If you want to cook venison like a pro, check out “The Art of Cooking Venison” by Executive Chef Albert Wusch (Cache Creek Enterprises). This $12.00 book contains 50 easy-to-prepare recipes, and covers everything from field-dressing deer to professional cooking tips. Here are some of Chef Wusch’s recipes:

Stuffed Loin of Venison with Spinach and Fennel Rack of Venison with Roasted Garlic and Sundried Tomato Venison Chops with Gorgonzola Wrapped in Phyllo Loin of Venison with Brandy Cream and Green Peppercorns Roast Leg of Venison with Garlic and Rosemary Venison Medallions with Green Peppercorn Sauce

So, are you hungry yet?

'Britactical' Rifle Places Third in Euro Match

Our most recent Gun of the Week was a 6.5×47 Lapua Tactical Rifle built with a Surgeon Action, Krieger Barrel, and McMillan stock. Built for Rob Hunter to use in a European Military and Sniper Competition in the Czech Republic, this rifle proved it’s mettle in its first-ever competition. Vince Bottomley, who smithed the rifle, reports: “Just to let you know… with his ‘Britactical’ rifle, Rob finished a magnificent third in Czechoslovalia–out of thirty-odd shooters. Not bad for a brand new rifle and cartridge.” Well, done, Robert! We are pleased to see how a gun evolves successfully through concept, building, and finally, performance in the field. This shows that, if you endow a rifle with the best components, such as the U.S. Optics 5-25×58 SN3 scope shown here, good things can happen.

Sierra Upgrades Infinity Ballistics Software

Sierra Bullets has released an upgraded version of its Infinity ballistics software. The latest release, Infinity 6, includes new features, boasts improved functionality, and is now fully compatible with Windows Vista.

New Infinity software features include: 1) Improved Atmospheric modeling; 2) Revised print formats with MOA (clicks) column; 3) Tabular formats for tactical shooters in MOA and MIL including up/down angle calculations; 4) Wind Profiler calculates trajectory in 5 separate wind zone conditions; and, 5) Twist Rate Calculator reports optimal twist rate, based on bullet specs/muzzle velocity/stability factor. The new Infinity version 6 will sell for $39.95 while Infinity Suite v. 6 (which includes the entire 5th Edition Rifle+Handgun Reloading manual on CD) retails for $59.95. For more info, contact Sierra at (800) 223-8799 or sierra [at] sierrabullets.com.

[Editor’s Note: If you currently have Windows XP and you haven’t upgraded to Windows Vista, I strongly suggest you don’t. Vista is still haunted by numerous compatibility issues and it is a resource hog that is very slow to load.]

Olin Sells Metal Business — Retains Winchester Ammunition Operations

Olin Corporation (NYSE: OLN), makers of Winchester Ammunition, announced today that it signed a definitive agreement to sell its Metals business to a subsidiary of Global Brass and Copper Holdings, Inc., an affiliate of KPS Capital Partners, LP, for a purchase price of $400 million. The sale includes all of the Company’s worldwide Metals operations, including its manufacturing facilities in Illinois, Ohio, Connecticut, and Missouri, as well as its A. J. Oster metals service centers. The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Olin will continue its Winchester Ammunition operation, which supplies Winchester® sporting ammunition, canister powder and reloading components to recreational shooters worldwide and to military and law enforcement agencies.

Slick Cartridge Caddy From Oz

Forum Member Jeff R. (“aJR”) from Australia has crafted a slick, handsome cartridge holder to use with his heavy Benchrest Gun. Composed of two blocks of wood with parallel metal arms, the unit adjusts for height and block angle. Jeff tells us: “This is my new cartridge dispenser I knocked up in the shed. I wanted to get the record rounds up next to the action and this is adjustable for just about any gun/port configuration, right or left.” The cartridge caddy has ten round holes (for record shots) in the top wood block, stacked in two rows. The base piece has five holes for sighters, with the holes cut at an angle for easy access.

For the blocks, Jeff used “Jarrah” wood, a deep, red hardwood native to West Australia. Jeff says he did not stain the wood–what you see is the natural color, just sprayed with acrylic lacquer. A similar wood available in the USA is Satiné, also known as “Bloodwood”.

By the way, Jeff’s 1000-yard rifle is worth mentioning in its own right. It features a tensioned barrel system, and metal/composite stock. He will be shooting it at a 1000-yard match in Brisbane this weekend. Good luck Jeff.

Bernosky Sets New National High Power Record

2007 Camp Perry National High Power Champion Carl Bernosky added another milestone to his list of achievements this past weekend. Shooting the same AR15-platform rifle that carried him to victory at Camp Perry, Carl shot an 800-41X score on the New Holland (PA) 200, 300, 600-yard National Match course. When certified, that will be a new National record. The previous record was an 800-38X (shot by T. Lawton in 2005). Carl, modest as ever, downplayed his achievement: “This time the close ones were on the inside instead of the outside [of the scoring lines].”

In High Power matches, competitors shoot in three different positions — standing, sitting, and prone — and iron sights are used. This makes High Power one of the most challenging of all rifle disciplines. Carl feels that his AR-platform gun does give him some benefits over other rifle designs. Carl noted: “For me, I shoot better standing scores with the AR. I can’t tell you why exactly, but certainly the self-loading feature of the rifle allows me to maintain position better shot to shot. The other advantage is in rapid-fire prone. There I think it is a real plus not to have to work the bolt.”

Carl Bernosky’s rifle features a custom upper built by John Holliger on a Smith & Wesson M&P15 lower with Geissele trigger. The upper has a 26″ Krieger barrel chambered in the 6mm Hagar. This is a new wildcat cartridge based on the 30 Remington case, necked down to 6mm. The 6mm Hagar resembles a 6.8 SPC with a .100″ longer body, 30-degree shoulder, and greater case capacity. It has a .420 rim diameter, and is formed from .30 Remington brass.

At New Holland, Carl shot alongside Robert Whitley. Carl said he was impressed by Robert’s new 6mmAR Turbo round. The 6mmAR Turbo is based on 6.5 Grendel cases necked to 6mm with the shoulder blown forward slightly. Carl told us: “If Robert’s 6mmAR Turbo can really shoot the 105s at 2880+ fps, then it should be competitive with the 6mm Hagar, and the brass is available right now. Whitley’s cartridge looks like it has great potential.”