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June 19th, 2009
Jerry Miculek once again stood atop the leader board, capturing both the Overall and Open Division titles at the International Revolver Championship (IRC) at the Hogue Action Pistol Range in Morro Bay, California. With his recent win, Jerry has accomplished an unprecedented feat by capturing his 17th IRC championship title while extending his record winning streak of back-to-back title victories since competing in the 1993 IRC match. Using an 8-shot S&W Performance Center Model 627 V-Comp, Miculek was able to post top scores in 10 out of the 12 stages of fire, allowing him to easily capture the championship title by over 26 seconds.
Miculek competing earlier this year at the Steel Challenge. Photo Courtesy SteelChallenge.com.
Team Smith & Wesson members earned six division titles. The IRC match was highlighted by wins from Jerry Miculek, new team member John Bagakis, Craig Buckland, Annette Aysen, Elliot Aysen and Team Captain, Julie Golob. In the Limited Division, Team Smith & Wesson members swept the top two spots with John Bagakis edging out teammate Elliot Aysen for the division title. Aysen went on to win the High Senior title. In the Women’s Limited Division, Annette Aysen decisively defended her Ladies Limited title by over 11 seconds. Each of the winners in the Limited Division used an 8-shot Performance Center Model 627.
Junior Division Video Highlights
In addition to adult competitors, junior wheel-gunners participated at the IRC in Moro Bay. In the video below, posted by S&W Team Captain Julie Golob, check out the future of the sport as these young shooters pair off against one another in the Junior Shoot-Off event of the IRC (guest appearance by the Jerry Miculek). (EDITOR: Very cool video, definitely check it out!)
June 19th, 2009
Brownell’s new, enhanced website is now “live”. The new site is easier to navigate, and “how-to” features such as the Gun-Tech articles/videos are more accessible. Featured Products and New Products are now located “front and center”. The search function is much more user-friendly. Brownell’s has even created an animated TUTORIAL explaining all the new features. CLICK HERE to watch the tutorial.
Better Product Organization and Display
To make it easier to find products by type, all products are grouped into nine tab-linked classes on the home page: Rifle parts, Handgun parts, Shotgun parts, Magazines, Shooting accessories, Gunsmith tools, Optics, Gun cleaning, and Books & videos. With one click you can now access all the optics, or all the videos for sale. Product images can be enlarged with a simple click and many include 360° viewing options.
Customer Product Ratings
We really like the fact that customers can now rate, review and comment on products. You can also get your questions answered through the interactive Answerbox feature.
Informational Content More Accessible
The GunTech and Shopping areas are now more heavily linked to make the videos, articles, cheat sheets, instructions found under GunTech easily accessible from the product pages. Products are also now accessible from the GunTech pages.
June 18th, 2009
 DATELINE: June 18, 10:40 am Pacific Time
Here is an important product update. Sinclair International received a shipment of Sellier & Bellot rifle primers on June 15. These are good non-corrosive boxer primers made by a respected Czech munitions-maker. As of June 18, 10:30 am Pacific time, Sinclair has the following quantities of Sellier & Bellot rifle primers in stock:
S&B Sm Rifle Primers (item 25-8000): $33.60 per 1,000-ct box — 165 boxes in stock.
6/22/09 UPDATE: Sm Rifle SOLD OUT
S&B Lg Rifle Primers (item 25-8100): $36.40 per 1,000-ct box — 455 boxes in stock.
6/22/09 UPDATE: 150 boxes Lg Rifle remaining
Sinclair tells us: “The primers are leaving fast so if you need large or small rifle primers or know someone who does we have some at the moment. Visit our website at Sinclairintl.com to check availability or call 1-800-717-8211. We have more large rifle primers than small rifle primers. Please limit yourself to 5,000 primers since many of your fellow shooters are without any primers at the present time.”
June 18th, 2009
 The full line of K&M reloading tools and accessories is now offered by PrecisionReloading.com. The popular K&M Arbor press (with optional seating force measurement gauge) is in stock. The K&M arbor costs $78.00, or $115.00 with the force measurement system. This clever design uses a Belleville washer stack and linkage to show the force required to seat your bullet on a standard dial indicator mounted on the top (dial indicator is $22 extra.) In addition, Precision Reloading offers K&M neck-turning tools, primer seaters, expanders, neck reamers, and flash-hole uniformers.
This editor has tried out many different arbor presses. The K&M is my favorite. For me, the force measurement system acts like a warning light, telling me if something is way off in the bullet seating process. If you see the dial indicator needle jumping around wildly, or spiking too soon, you know that case has excessive neck tension, or perhaps the bullet is oversize in diameter (it happens). Currently, the K&M is the only arbor press with a seating-force gauge. The only down-side to the K&M arbor is that you must adjust multiple bolts to set the ram height. By contrast, the Sinclair Int’l Arbor and some other arbors feature a quick-release lever that lets you adjust ram height quickly and easily.
Based in Mitchell, South Dakota, Precision Reloading is run by active, knowledgeable shooters. In addition to centerfire reloading supplies and tools, Precision Reloading offers a full line of shotshell components and shotgun reloading equipment, plus optics, cleaning supplies, gun cases, and hunting gear. This month Precision Reloading is running an optics sale on Bushnell, Sightron, and Vortex scopes, binoculars, and spotting scopes.
June 18th, 2009
 Hurt by a big reduction in sales and burdened by overwhelming debt payments, Seattle-based Eddie Bauer Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: EBHI) filed June 17 for bankruptcy protection. It then took only a day for the troubled outdoor retailer to be grabbed by a NY-based private equity firm, CCMP Capital Advisors LLC.
CCMP has agreed to take over Eddie Bauer in a $202 million deal. CCMP plans to eliminate most of Eddie Bauer’s long-term debt, and has pledged to keep most of the retailer’s 371 stores open. According to Eddie Bauer representatives, CCMP will retain the majority of Eddie Bauer employees.
Until the deal is finalized, Eddie Bauer will operate under Bankruptcy rules. Eddie Bauer said it hopes to operate business as usual during bankruptcy court proceedings and has asked for court approval to continue paying vendors and workers. The company also said it intends to honor customer gift cards, returns and loyalty program points. In its bankruptcy filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. declared total assets of $525.22 million in April vs. total liabilities of $448.9 million.
The Eddie Bauer company was started in 1920 by Eddie Bauer, an avid outdoorsman (and former stock boy). His business grew rapidly when he offered an “unconditional guarantee”, something very rare at the time. Bauer called his guarantee “his creed” and it became a cornerstone of the Eddie Bauer business.
History of Eddie Bauer Business.
June 17th, 2009
Victoria Croft, the national manager of Collegiate & School Programs for the NRA, has announced a new program that could make its debut as early as next year: the NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championship.
This new championship would be geared toward ALL collegiate rifle shooters, encompassing NRA College Rifle Clubs, Varsity Rifle Teams, NCAA Rifle Teams, ROTC and independent shooters. Currently there is no championship for NRA College Club participants, Varsity Rifle Team participants, or independent college-age rifle competitors. Croft said this would give them the chance to be represented.
New Rifle Championship Triples Participation Levels
Presently, the NCAA Championship invites only 48 NCAA rifle shooters to participate each year. The proposed NRA championship will triple championship participation and help foster collegiate rifle programs across the nation. Qualification for the Championship would be determined through NRA Collegiate Sectionals.
 Funding for this championship would come from the NRA Foundation, the same program that funds the NRA Intercollegiate Pistol Championships and the ACUI Clay Target Championships. The proposed Intercollegiate Championship would include a training summit similar to the one offered at the NRA Junior Air Gun Championship.
The NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Championship will also teach college shooters about various NRA programs and let shooters demonstrate their skills in front of peers, families, coaches, and university administrators. “This program has been a long time coming,” said Victoria Croft. “So much of the rifle community is already excited, and we have only just started planning for it.”
Story and photo courtesy the NRA Blog.
June 16th, 2009
The majority of competitive shooters in many disciplines are over 40, with a high percentage over 50 years old. That’s a lot of old eyes which may have trouble reading small print. Shooters who are far-sighted, and older shooters with presbyopia, may have difficulty focusing on close objects. At the range, this may make it difficult to read range cards, printed come-up tables, or even the “fine print” found in manuals for chronographs and other shooting accessories.
Here’s a solution for shooters who need better close-up vision. For just $10.50 per pair, Amazon.com sells stick-on inserts that mount to any glass or plastic lenses, including polycarbonate shooting glasses. Water is the adhesive–the surface tension effect of H20 is enough to keep the lens inserts in place. But this also lets you easily move the magnifying lenses from one set of glasses to another. ReadingGlasses.com offers the Optx 20/20 stick-on lenses for $18.00 (or $29.00 for two pair). Magellan’s, a popular travel accessory store, sells the same Optx 20/20 Lenses, Item #BA726, for $24.85 per pair. Magellan’s notes: “Flexible Optx 20/20 lenses hold fast by their own molecular attraction (no adhesive needed) and can be peeled off and reattached many times”. The video below shows how the stick-on lenses work.
June 16th, 2009
The American Knife and Tool Institute (AKTI) recently warned Americans of a U.S. Customs’ proposal to re-interpret the Switchblade Knife Act of 1958. The USCBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) has proposed a new standard that would bar importation of any knife with “release-assisted” opening. AKTI fears this could be applied to a wide variety of commonly-used knives including those with a finger stud or thumb-hole to allow one-handed opening.
Customs proposes to criminalize modern assisted-opening knives by defining them as “switchblades” under federal law. AKTI cautions: “The U.S. Customs’ proposal indicates it is directed at only the importers of assisted-opening knives. However, the language used in their revocation document is so broad and uses virtually every term ever applied to any knife that opens with one hand. We fear that they are attempting to bypass the will of Congress and that once they succeed in getting assisted-openers defined as switchblades, they could move against all folding knives. These include multi-tools, traditional pocket knives, one-hand openers, and assisted-openers.”
To learn more about this issue, visit the AKTI website. The AKTI has prepared form letters you can send to your legislators. You can also write directly to USCBP at:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Office of International Trade, Regulations and Rulings
Attention: Intellectual Property and Restricted Merchandise Branch
Mint Annex, 799 Ninth St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20229
June 16th, 2009
Google has launched an innovative, web-based search function that delivers a wealth of information in data-rich tables. Now when you search you can get more than just a list of websites. Called Google Squared, the new system delivers a collection of search results in a chart (table) format. The chart will contain a variety of different clickable entries, such as article titles, photos, product descriptions, and prices. Google Squared returns a huge amount of information and data from a single search.
Link: www.Google.com/squared
While Google Squared can search virtually any topic from Astrophysics to Zoology, we’ve found it can be very useful when researching firearms subjects or searching for shooting products. Shown below are the results of a search for “Spotting Scope”. By default, data is grouped in six columns. However, Google Squared allows you to add other data columns, and Google can even “intelligently” suggest choices for additional columns. In this example, Google suggested Eye Relief, Magnification, Exit Pupil, Lens Coating, and Prism System — all important optical parameters. That’s pretty smart! You can also delete any column of data if it’s not needed.
Google Squared can also be used to research a particular product or do price comparison searches. Shown below are the Google Squared results for “RCBS Chargemaster”:
Google Squared is still in the development stages, but it promises to be a useful tool for veteran web users. Give it a try, and see how it performs for you.
June 15th, 2009
John Loh of JJ Industries has generously donated a complete front rest to be sold at the World Benchrest Championship (WBC-10) held at the Krokodilspruit Range in Pretoria, South Africa, June 22-29, 2009. Proceeds from the sale will be used to defray the expenses of the USA Benchrest Team. The rest will be on display at the World Championships next week, and sold to the highest bidder.
This WBC-10 Special Edition rest is based on John Loh’s impressive, 18-lb JJ Ultra Front Rest, sold for $879.95 commercially. John has added some unique upgrades for this one-of-a-kind, 22-lb Special Edition. The center shaft is beefier, with a larger diameter. All the knobs (other than the bearing bronze rear adjuster) are crafted from machined aluminum. Loh front rests are already noted for allowing super-smooth and precise vertical and horizontal adjustments, and the larger center column makes this special unit even better. The rest comes with a 3″-wide Edgewood front bag fitted with a spacer block with bubble level. The side plates for the top bag are inscribed with “TEAM USA” and “World Benchrest Championships – South Africa 2009″ is engraved on the front of the base plate.
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