At the request of our readers, we provide select “Deals of the Week”. Every Sunday afternoon or Monday morning we offer our Best Bargain selections. Here are some of the best deals on firearms, hardware, reloading components, optics, and shooting accessories. Be aware that sale prices are subject to change, and once clearance inventory is sold, it’s gone for good. You snooze you lose.
1. Burris — Eliminator 4-16x50mm III, $999.00
⏺ Save $400 on integrated scope/laser rangefinder
The Burris 4-16x50mm Eliminator III laser range-finding optic is on sale September 1 through December 31, 2020. Burris has dropped Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) by $400 for the balance of the year. Hunters and shooters can take advantage of the limited-time lower $999 price. The Eliminator III scope offers laser ranging out to 1,200 yards with push-button automatic trajectory compensation. You range your target, and the Eliminator III sets a red aiming point. Then just put the red dot on the target and pull the trigger — no drop charts, no knobs to crank. Previous retail price was $1,399. The new MAP is $999. Save $400!
2. Brownells — Labor Day Sale, Sale Items and 10% OFF Codes
⏺ Many items heavily discounted, plus 10% OFF Codes
Brownells is running a big Labor Day Sale with many items discounted, including Optics, Triggers, Barreled Actions, and more. Pluse you can get 10% Off purchases now through 9/30/2020. Use Code VSD to get $50 off $500, Code VSC for $25 off $250, and Code TAG to get $15 off $150. NOTE: There’s a Killer Deal on the Howa Barreled Action in 6mm Creedmoor — just $249.99 including the excellent HACT trigger.
3. Creedmoor Sports — 10% Off Labor Day Sale
⏺ Save 10% on all Creedmoor Sports and MTM brand products
During the Labor Day Weekend, Creedmoor Sports is offering 10% Off all Creedmoor brand products — that way you get significant savings on Creedmoor shooting coats, rifle cases, mats, carts, and much more. In addition, Creedmoor Sports has knocked 10% Off the price of all MTM products and most targets. To get these savings, use CODE LD20 during check-out. The Sale ends at 11:59 pm on Tuesday, 9/8/2020.
4. Tipton Direct — 30% Off Sale on All Tipton Products
⏺ Save 30% on gun vises, maintenance stands, tools and more
Tipton is running a BIG SALE: “We wanted our loyal customers to have the biggest savings they could before the fall season starts.” Everything on the Tipton website is 30% off — use CODE FALL30 during checkout to save 30%. NOTE: Even with the 30% savings, a few of the listed items might be cheaper at other retailers. Look at Tipton’s listed price, subtract 30% and then check pricing. This deal ends at 11:59 pm on Monday, September 7, 2020 Pacific Time
5. MidwayUSA — Camo Tuesday Hunting Gear Sale, 9/8/2020
⏺ Major 1-day Sale for hunters, plus Giveaways
MidwayUSA’s Camo Tuesday™ only happens once a year. Hunters will find amazing deals plus free shipping on select hunting gear. Everything that hunters use will be heavily discounted — hunting clothing, scopes, shooting rests, binoculars, rangefinders, backpacks, trail cams, GPS units. If you hunt, be sure to visit MidwayUSA on Tuesday, September 8th, 2020 to shop the best hunting products at unbeatable prices. In addition to the discounts, you can register for Camo Tuesday™ Prize packages.
6. Brownells — SIG BDX Riflescopes — 50% Off, Save Hundreds
⏺ Save 50% on SIG Sauer BDX “Smart Scopes” — great for hunters
As part of its Labor Day Sale, Brownells is offering huge 50% discounts on SIG BDX riflescopes. The Sierra3 4.5-14X44mm scope is now $299.99, marked down from $599.99. That’s 50% Off! And the Sierra3 3.5-10x42mm scope is $249.99, marked down from $499.99. These are good hunting scopes that work with SIG Sauer’s BDX rangefinders and Ballistic App. After ranging, the DBX scope receives a calculated ballistic solution. Then a dot lights up on the reticle, showing shooters where to hold.
7. Amazon — The Wind Book for Rifle Shooters, $22.99
⏺ NEW 2020 Edition, completely updated — great resource
Readers often ask: “Is there a good, easy-to-comprehend book that can help my wind-reading?” Many of our Forum members have recommended The Wind Book for Rifle Shooters by Linda Miller and Keith Cunningham. Other books cover wind reading in a broader discussion of ballistics or long-range shooting. But the Miller & Cunningham book is ALL about wind reading from cover to cover, and that is its strength. The book focuses on real world skills that can help you accurately gauge wind angle, wind velocity, and wind cycles. Here’s a video review explaining what makes this book so good.
We know a LOT of Americans are looking for 9mm defensive pistols right now. Demand is high and dealers are jacking up prices on their remaining inventory. If you’re looking for an affordable 9mm, consider the Walther Creed. This pistol offers excellent ergonomics, good accuracy, and well-designed controls at a good price — $399.99 at CDNN Sports. This gun emulates Walther’s more expensive PPQ model at a much lower price. The Creed features a snag-free bobbed hammer. Testers say that, despite the bargain price, the Creed “sacrifices little to nothing in… ergonomics, accuracy, and reliability.”
9. Cabela’s — Catch-All Gear Bag $12.99, Many Colors
⏺ Versatile, good capacity, buy two at this price
This versatile bag holds lots of gear, and you can’t beat the price — just $12.99. At 16″x10″x6″ it’s big enough to hold rifle ammo, muffs, a Kestrel, and other accessories. It can also serve as a general utility bag for car camping trips. Six exterior pockets, including zippered mesh pockets on top and side, provide multiple storage options.Sturdy 1-1⁄2″ nylon web carry straps can be joined by a hand-friendly wrap handle. Cabela’s Catch-All Gear Bag available in a variety of colors including True Timber Camo, 02 Octane Camo, Lt. Gray, Green, Tan, Orange Gold, and Dark Gray.
10. Amazon — Jialitte Scope Bubble Level, $10.99
⏺ Effective and affordable — works for both 30mm and 1″ tubes
All serious rifle shooters need a scope level. This nicely designed Jialitte Scope Bubble Level features a 30mm milled inside diameter, plus an inner insert ring so it will also fit 1″-diameter main tubes — that dual-diameter versatility is a nice feature. We also like the way the unit is nicely radiused, and has a low profile in the middle. Price is just $10.99 with free shipping. User reviews have been very positive. You could easily pay $35.00 or more for a 30mm scope level.
One of our Forum members complained that he wasn’t able to set his primers flush to the rim. He tried a variety of primer tools, yet no matter what he used, the primers still didn’t seat deep enough. He measured his primers, and they were the right thickness, but it seemed like his primer pockets just weren’t deep enough. He was mystified as to the cause of the problem.
Well, our friend Boyd Allen diagnosed the problem. It was the decapping rod. If the rod is adjusted too low (screwed in too far), the base of the full-diameter rod shaft (just above the pin) will contact the inside of the case. That shaft is steel whereas your case is brass, a softer, weaker metal. So, when you run the case up into the die, the shaft can actually stretch the base of the primer pocket outward. Most presses have enough leverage to do this. If you bell the base of the primer pocket outwards, you’ve essentially ruined your case, and there is no way a primer can seat correctly.
The fix is simple. Just make sure to adjust the decapping rod so that the base of the rod shaft does NOT bottom out on the inside of the case. The pin only needs to extend through the flash hole far enough to knock the primer out. The photo shows a Lyman Universal decapping die. But the same thing can happen with any die that has a decapping rod, such as bushing neck-sizing dies, and full-length sizing dies.
Whenever you use a die with a decapping pin for the first time, OR when you move the die to a different press, make sure to check the decapping rod length. And it’s a good idea, with full-length sizing dies, to always re-check the height setting when changing presses.
There are a variety of decapping dies currently on the market, with models available from Lee, Lyman, Hornady, RCBS, Redding, and Sinclair Int’l.
Lee Universal Decapping Die on SALE for $10.96
Speaking of decapping tools, Midsouth Shooters Supply sells the Lee Universal Decapping Die for just $10.96 (item 006-90292), a very good deal. There are many situations when you may want to remove primers from fired brass as a separate operation (prior to case sizing). For example, if your rifle brass is dirty, you may want to de-cap before sizing. Or, if you load on a progressive press, things will run much more smoothly if you decap you brass first, in a separate operation.
Decapping Dies for Cases with Smaller Flashholes
TAKE NOTE: Some Euro Small Flash Holes are spec’d at 1.5mm or 0.059″, and max out at about .062″, so these need a smaller die pin.
The low-cost Lee Universal Decapping Die will work with cartridges from 17 Fireball all the way up to big Magnums. However, NOTE that the decapping pin supplied with this Lee die is TOO LARGE for LAPUA 220 Russian, 6mmBR, 6.5×47, 6.5 Creedmoor, .308 Win (Palma) and Norma 6 PPC flash holes. Because the pin diameter is too large for these brass types, you must either turn down the pin, or decap with a different tool for cases with .059-.062″ flash-holes.
Sinclair Int’l offers a Stainless Decapping Die that comes with both .080 and .060 Pins. The $34.99 die ships with three decap pins for standard .080″ flash holes, and two pins for .060″ flash holes
Redding makes a Universal Decapping Die with an optional smaller-diameter decapping rod for the smaller .059-.062″ flash holes found on the BR and PPC cases. The use of this die is explained in the video below:
In these trying times, with violence in our cities, and the Democratic Presidential candidate calling for the outright banning of mag-fed, semi-auto rifles, we know that many readers are seeking to purchase defensive firearms (while a citizen still can). If you are looking for a black rifle and/or a defensive pistol, check out Palmetto State Armory (PSA). This company, one of American’s largest Black Rifle retailers, maintains a large inventory of complete ARs, AR lowers, AR uppers, and handguns — all at very competitive prices. PSA also sells triggers and optics. And yes, PSA has ammunition in stock at fair prices.
Right now PSA is running a big Labor Day Sale. The sale has started, so you can enjoy significant savings for the next few days.
Black Rifles and Rifle Components on Sale
Whether you want a complete AR-platform rifle, a complete upper, or components for uppers and lowers, PSA has what you need. PSA also carries aftermarket triggers, sights, magazines, and other Black Rifle accessories. Here are some of the complete rifles, uppers, and lowers currently on sale at PSA. CLICK HERE for AR-Platform rifles, components, and accessories
Handguns on SALE at PSA
With the record-breaking volume of gun sales in recent months, many smaller gunshops have very limited inventory of handguns, particulary compact pistols suitable for CCW. However, PSA has a large supply of pistols, including popular carry guns from S&W, Ruger, Springfield Armory and other leading brands. Here’s a small sample of handguns in stock today at PSA.
PSA Ammunition on SALE
This is a small sample of the ammunition available now. This is in-stock now, ready to ship. Go to PSA’s Ammo Page to find other cartridge types on sale, including .40 SW, .357 Magnum, .308 Win, and .22 LR.
Hunting season opens soon around the country. What better way to prepare the mind and spirit for your hunting adventure than to read a classic hunting book. We’ve found ten of the best hunting books every written and provided links below. The list of authors is impressive, including Ernest Hemingway and Theodore Roosevelt.
Recommended Books about Hunting
There’s no shortage of good hunting-related reading material. Here are some of the best books written about hunting. You can find all these titles on Amazon.com. Many are offered in eBook format as well as printed versions. Click on the link(s) below to preview a sample from each book.
He who dies with the most toys wins — right? Well Sinclair has another interesting gadget you can add to your reloading bench. The Sinclair Case Neck Sorting Tool lets you quickly sort brass by neck-wall thickness. For those who shoot “no-turn” brass, this can improve neck-tension consistency. Large variances in neck-wall thickness can cause inconsistent neck “grip” on the bullet. Generally, we’ve found that more consistent neck tension will lower ES and (usually) improve accuracy. We know some guys who shoot no-turn 6mmBR brass in competition with considerable success — but their secret is pre-sorting their brass by neck-wall thickness. Cases that are out-of-spec are set aside for sighters (or are later skim-turned).
Watch Case Neck Sorting Tool Operation in Video
How the Case Neck Sorting Tool Works
Here’s how the Sinclair tool works. Cases are rotated under an indicator tip while they are supported on a case-neck pilot and a support pin through the flash hole. The unit has a nice, wide base and low profile so it is stable in use. The tool works for .22 through .45 caliber cases and can be used on .17- and .20-caliber cases with the optional carbide alignment rod. The MIC-4 pin fits both .060 (PPC size) and .080 (standard size) flash holes. Sinclair’s Case Neck Sorting Tool can be ordered with or without a dial indicator. The basic unit without dial indicator (item 749-006-612WB) is $59.99. The tool complete with dial indicator (item 749-007-129WB) for $89.99. IMPORTANT: This tool requires caliber-specific Sinclair Case Neck Pilots which must be ordered separately.
Editor’s Comment: The purpose of this Sinclair tool is rapid, high-quantity sorting of cartridge brass to ascertain significant case-neck-wall thickness variations. Consider this a rapid culling/sorting tool. If you are turning your necks, you will still need a quality ball micrometer tool to measure neck-wall thickness (to .0005) before and after neck-turning operations.
A while back, RifleShooter online magazine published a list of the purported Ten Best Bolt-Action Rifles of All Time. Ten classic rifle designs (including the Remington 700, Winchester Model 70, Weatherby V, and Mauser 98) were featured with a paragraph or two explaining their notable features.
“Best” Lists Stir Controversy…
These Top 10 lists are always controversial. While most readers might approve of half the entries, there are always some items on the Top 10 list that some readers would challenge. Here is RifleShooter’s Top 10 list. What do you think? Are there some other bolt-actions that are more deserving?
1. Springfield M1903
2. Mauser 98
3. Winchester Model 70
4. Remington Model 700
5. Weatherby V
6. Sako L61/AV
7. Savage Model 110
8. Ruger M77
9. Tikka T3
10. Mannlicher-Schonauer
Hunting season is right around the corner. It’s time to sight-in those deer rifles, check the optics, and make sure you’re ready to go. We know some hunters might enjoy shooting game profile targets when at the range for the sight-in process. To that end, here are six animal profile targets from Gun.Deals. Right-click any target to download the printable PDF file, designed to print to standard 8.5″ x 11″ paper. All these targets include entry boxes for Shooter Name, Score, Range (distance), and Date.
Deer Targets with Center Hit Zones Gun.Deals offers two different deer targets, both free to download. We prefer the standing buck with target ring in center mass (left below). Hit the red “10” for maximum points. You can also use this target for rimfire fun practice.
Bear Targets with Center Bulls
Few of us have actually encountered large bears in the wild. But if you do… it can be scary. Work on your bear recognition skills with these two targets, a standing bear, and a bear horizontal profile.
Bird Targets — Rings of Wings
As a fun target to shoot with younger family members (perhaps with a .22 LR) rimfire the bird targets work well. We like the bird circle target (below on left). This has 14 bird images arrayed in rings, providing increasing difficulty as you move from outer ring to center.
Sight-In Target and Bullseye Target
Courtesy of Gun.Deals, we’ve also included a conventional bullseye and a sight-in target. You can augment that sight-in sheet with neon orange Birchwood-Casey Target Spots if you want multiple aim points. A target pack with 160 1.5″ Target Dots is just $4.49 at Amazon.
Zeiss Victory SF 8×42 model shown. The 10×32 has 90% light transmission.
If you are looking for high-end binoculars, you should definitely consider the new ZEISS Victory SF series. These offer superb glass, rapid focus, and ultra-wide field of view (very important for hunters).
Recognizing the qualities of the ZEISS SF line, Outdoor Life Magazine recently named the ZEISS Victory SF 10×32 binoculars as the winner of its Editor’s Choice Award in the hunting binoculars category. This Award was announced in Outdoor Life’s September issue.
Outdoor Life noted three key features of the new Victory SF: 1) Very Wide Field of View; 2) Rapid Focus; and 3) Balance. Outdoor Life also praised the exceptionally sharp and clear SCHOTT fluorite glass with proprietary high-contrast coatings. Outdoor Life’s editors wrote: “Optically, the Victory SF brings the same best-in-class attributes as earlier Victory models. The guts are SCHOTT fluoride glass protected by ZEISS’s proprietary high-contrast and weatherproof coatings. We also liked the very positive four-position eyecups and the locking diopter control, located conveniently on the center hinge.”
Why the ZEISS Victory SF Won the Award
Outdoor Life had high praise for the Zeiss Victory SF line, with its impressive features and performance:
“With its remarkable Victory SF, ZEISS has managed to upend the staid world of binoculars and offer a product with three noticeable advantages. The first is its absurdly wide field of view, achieved by increasing the sizes of lenses and redesigning the optical prescription, or how all lenses and prisms work together. Finally, SF in its name stands for ‘SmartFocus’ but it might stand for ‘SpeedFocus’ given the rapidity of zooming from close focus to infinity in just 1.6 turns of the wheel.”
Outdoor life also praised the Victory SF’s balance: “Another remarkable attribute of the new ZEISS, which will be available in 8×42, 10×42, and 8×32 configurations along with the 10×32, is its balance. The binocular weighs a trim 20.8 ounces, but it feels even lighter, largely because of its wonderful equilibrium.”
In the ELR game, particularly the King of 2 Miles (KO2M), it’s “go big or go home”. The top shooters run large-capacity cartridges that push large-caliber, ultra-high BC bullets at very high velocities. Bullets launched by cartridges such as the .416 Barrett can sustain supersonic velocities at Extreme Long Ranges — and that’s what it takes to win. The .416 Barrett can launch a 550-grain solid bullet at 3000+ FPS.
Photo from ELR Competitor Corbin Shell.
2018 and 2019 Kings of 2 Miles Loaded on RCBS Presses
So how do you load jumbo cartridges such as the .416 Barrett? It takes a big, heavy, super-strong reloading press. We’ve learned that the last two Kings of 2 Miles, Paul Phillips (2019) and Robert Brantley (2019) both loaded their KO2M ammo on RCBS AmmoMaster .50 BMG presses. Phillips loaded .416 Barrett ammo, while Brantley loaded custom .416 MCS rounds.
In 2018, Robert Brantley topped the field using his custom .416 MCS loads perfected on the AmmoMaster .50 BMG Press. This year, Brantley took a close second to 2019 KO2M winner Paul Phillips. Both Phillips and Brantley use the AmmoMaster .50 BMG single stage press kit and RCBS .416 Barrett dies to hand-load for extreme long-range. “My ammo has been much more consistent after switching to the RCBS press and dies,” remarked Phillips, who runs the Global Precision Group. Brantley said he uses RCBS products for most of his reloading needs — from the dies and AmmoMaster, to the ChargeMaster and Brass Boss. His custom .416 MCS loads launch a 550-grain bullet more than 3,100 fps.
Loading with RCBS AmmoMaster .50 BMG Press
This video shows reloading with the RCBS AmmoMaster .50 BMG press. While this video shows .50 BMG cases being loaded, the principles are the same for loading the .416 Barrett used by both Brantley and Phillips. Big cases need big presses!
Derek Rodgers Shooting the .375 CheyTac at K02M in 2017
Another ELR ace, 2017 King of 2 Miles champion Derek Rodgers, favored the .375 CheyTac cartridge. For his successful K02M quest, Derek ran Cutting Edge Bullets in Peterson brass with Hodgdon H50BMG powder. The video below shows Derek in action at the 2017 KO2M event.
The KO2M competition is a two-day extreme long-range (ELR) match held at the NRA Whittington Center outside Raton, New Mexico. Teams consist of one shooter and up to two wind coaches/spotters, who fire on steel targets ranging from about 1,500 to 3,500 yards.
Ginny Thrasher won the very first Gold Medal of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. And now she has her sights set on another strong performance in the next Olympics, slated for Japan in 2021. Ginny Thrasher’s marksmanship success story started a decade ago at the age of 14 when she went on a hunting trip with her grandfather. From there she rose to stardom in collegiate shooting and then the Olympics.
In 2016 when Ginny earned Gold in Rio for Team USA she was the youngest American female to ever win a shooting Gold Medal. In first Olympic showing, she led the Women’s 10-meter air rifle and set a new Olympic record with a finals score of 208.0!
“There are so many feelings associated with 2016 for me … I didn’t realize it at the time, but that was the year that all athletes dream of”, the now 23-year-old said. “Going to the Olympics was one of the most amazing and singular once-in-a-lifetime experiences that not everyone gets … It was amazing,”
Returning to the United States after the Olympics in 2016 presented a swirling new world for Ginny. As a collegiate athlete on the West Virginia University (WVU) rifle team, she suddenly found herself the most famous person on campus — often stopped while walking to class or shopping for groceries, being asked for a picture or an autograph.
The overwhelming response of the country, from strangers to national media, turned attention to the sport of rifle shooting. That gave Ginny a sense of pride in the impact she had made for the entire marksmanship community: “That’s something that athletes in other sports experience all the time, but it’s not something rifle shooters typically experience,” she said. “I was very, very grateful to have the community support, and it was a lot of fun to go and be invited to different events and speak to different media outlets and truly represent my sport.”
She went on, “It was getting a lot of attention at a time when our sport is not very common, not a lot of people know what it is … So the more I could answer people’s questions to advocate and to educate, to me, that was a huge opportunity.”
With her medal carefully tucked away in a bank lockbox for safekeeping, Ginny has done her best to become accustomed to her new reality. As she went back to competing with her WVU teammates in 2016, she found herself sometimes distracted by the attention.
How the Case Neck Sorting Tool Works
