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March 30th, 2016
Got Ammo? If you need bulk .223 Rem ammo for 3-Gun practice or a varmint safari, or if you want to stock up on pistol ammo, now’s a great time to shop. Cabelas.com is running a promotion this week with great prices on a wide variety of ammo. There are nearly 60 ammo varieties on sale. Some of the best deals are shown below. The 9mm Luger prices are low enough that it’s hard to justify hand-loading if you value your time at all.
Along with the savings on ammo prices, you can save on shipping costs. Through 4/1/2016, you can get $5.00 Shipping on orders of $99.00 or more. Use code 36SPRING during checkout. This $5.00 shipping offer will cover ammunition.
Federal American Eagle .223 Rem Rifle Ammo (55gr FMJ)
with Cabela’s Dry-Storage Box, 300 Rounds $124.99.
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| CCI Blazer Brass 9mm Luger FMJ Ammo, $10.99 for 50 Rounds.
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| Winchester .45 ACP FMJ Ammo, 200 Rounds in Wood Box, $89.99.
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| CCI Herters .40 SW TNJ Ammo (Nylon-coated Lead) $13.99 for 50 Rounds.
This TNJ (total nylon jacket) ammo features aluminum cases and lead bullets that are fully sheathed with a blue polymer (nylon) coating |
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February 27th, 2016
What brands are favored by gun guys? Well here are the results of 2015 consumer surveys conducted by Southwick Associates. The surveys asked hunters and shooters to indicate their favorite brands for hunting and shooting product categories. This “Top Brand” list was compiled from 2015 internet-based surveys conducted through HunterSurvey.com and ShooterSurvey.com websites.
In 2015, most frequently purchased brands included:
- Top reloading powder brand: Hodgdon
- Top reloading bullet brand: Hornady
- Top reloading primer brand: CCI
- Top rifle ammunition brand: Federal
- Top handgun ammunition brand: Winchester
- Top shotgun ammunition brand: Winchester
- Top blackpowder brand: Pyrodex
- Top scopes brand: Leupold
- Top binoculars brand: Bushnell
- Top GPS device brand: Garmin
- Top trail camera brand: Moultrie
- Top muzzleloader brand: CVA
- Top knife brand: Buck
- Top holster/ammo belt brand: Blackhawk
The list above is only a fraction of all hunting and shooting categories tracked by Southwick Associates. Along with many other product categories, Southwick Associates also tracks the percentage of sales occurring across different retail channels, total spending per category, average prices, and demographics for hunters and shooters buying specific products. Additional information tracked includes total days spent hunting and shooting, type of hunting, preferred species and where they go.
Information for many other product categories is available from Southwick Associates, a market research firm specializing in the hunting, shooting, sport=fishing, and outdoor recreation markets. Additional details available include total consumer spending by category, breakouts for caliber and gauge, type of retailer, average retail prices, customer demographics, and more.
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February 24th, 2016
Looking for a great job in the Shooting Sports industry? Well Vista Outdoor, America’s largest firearms/ammo/optics/sporting accessories maker, has some key job offerings. Vista Outdoor (formerly the sporting unit of ATK) is a corporate giant operating dozens of major brands including: Alliant Powder, Bushnell, CCI, Federal Premium, RCBS, Savage Arms, Simmons, Speer, and Weaver.
Key Vista Outdoor Jobs Available Now…
1. Product Manager — Ammunitions/Pistols
Position is responsible for managing all aspects of product development, from concept development to commercialization, for firearms product categories. He or she will aggressively grow the business by thoroughly understanding the marketplace, competition and by developing products that address global consumer and retailer needs.
2. Senior Marketing Manager — Firearms
The Senior Marketing Manager for Firearms at Vista Outdoor will have full responsibility for all marketing within the Firearms Global Product Lane. This position will report to the V.P. of Marketing and New Product Development for Shooting Sports. This position will manage all aspects of consumer marketing for all firearms brands.
3. Senior Product Manager — Optics
Vista’s Overland Park, KS location is seeking a Senior Product Manager — Optics to add to our team. The Senior Product Manager is responsible for managing all aspects of product development from concept development to commercialization for our line of Sports Optics.
4. Product Manager — Tactical Products
The Product Manager will achieve annual top and bottom line metrics through new product development in support of the global tactical strategy. This position will be responsible for leading all aspects of R&D, concept and product development, commercialization, and launch.
5. New Product Development Engineer — Federal Ammunition
This role will work alongside Product Development Engineers, Product Marketing and Insights Staff, members of the Product Innovation Team and will map out and pursue future new products for Vista Outdoor Shooting Sports Ammunition Company.
In addition to the positions presented above, Vista Outdoor currently lists over 70 more job opportunities on its corporate Careers webpage. Vista Outdoor is headquartered in Utah and employs approximately 5,800 workers. Current Vista Outdoor opportunities include: Project Manager III, Legal Business Manager, Purchasing Manager, Export/Import Specialist, Senior Tax Analyst, Pistol & Rifle Product Line Specialist, Senior Database Developer, Manufacturing Engineers (I, II, III), Financial Analyst, Environmental Lead, Community Relations Specialist, and many more.
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December 16th, 2015
It may seem obvious, but you need to be careful when changing primer types for a pet load. Testing with a .308 Win rifle and Varget powder has confirmed that a primer change alone can result in noteworthy changes in muzzle velocity. To get more MV, you’ll need a more energy at some point in the process — and that potentially means more pressure. So exercise caution when changing primer types
We are often asked “Can I get more velocity by switching primer types?” The answer is “maybe”. The important thing to know is that changing primer types can alter your load’s performance in many ways — velocity average, velocity variance (ES/SD), accuracy, and pressure. Because there are so many variables involved you can’t really predict whether one primer type is going to be better or worse than another. This will depend on your cartridge, your powder, your barrel, and even the mechanics of your firing pin system.
Interestingly, however, a shooter on another forum did a test with his .308 Win semi-auto. Using Hodgdon Varget powder and Sierra 155gr Palma MatchKing (item 2156) bullets, he found that Wolf Large Rifle primers gave slightly higher velocities than did CCI-BR2s. Interestingly, the amount of extra speed (provided by the Wolfs) increased as charge weight went up, though the middle value had the largest speed variance. The shooter observed: “The Wolf primers seemed to be obviously hotter and they had about the same or possibly better ES average.” See table:
| Varget .308 load |
45.5 grains |
46.0 grains |
46.5 grains |
| CCI BR2 Primers |
2751 fps |
2761 fps |
2783 fps |
| Wolf LR Primers |
2757 fps |
2780 fps |
2798 fps |
| Speed Delta |
6 fps |
19 fps |
15 fps |
You can’t extrapolate too much from the table above. This describes just one gun, one powder, and one bullet. Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV) as they say. However, this illustration does show that by substituting one component you may see significant changes. Provided it can be repeated in multiple chrono runs, an increase of 19 fps (with the 46.0 grain powder load) is meaningful. An extra 20 fps or so may yield a more optimal accuracy node or “sweet spot” that produces better groups. (Though faster is certainly NOT always better for accuracy — you have to test to find out.)
WARNING: When switching primers, you should exercise caution. More speed may be attractive, but you have to consider that the “speedier” primer choice may also produce more pressure. Therefore, you must carefully monitor pressure signs whenever changing ANY component in a load.
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June 3rd, 2015
Click Photo to read full test results in Target Shooter Magazine.
If you shoot a .308 Win, or any cartridge that uses a Large Rifle (LR) primer, you should read an important new article by Laurie Holland in Target Shooter Magazine. Holland, a talented shooter from the UK, tested no less than sixteen (16) different large primer types using a custom F-TR target rifle shot from the bench. Laurie loaded .308 Win ammo* with 16 LR primer varieties and then tested for average velocity, ES/SD, and group size. This may be the most comprehensive and thorough LR primer test ever done. Here are the primer types tested:
CBC Magtech 9½
CCI 200 LR
CCI BR2 Match
CCI 250 Magnum
Federal 210
Federal 210M Match
Federal 215M Magnum Match
Fiocchi Large Rifle |
Kynoch Large Rifle
Murom KVB-7 (PMC LR)
Norma Superflash LR
PMC LR Magnum
Remington 9½ LR
Remington 9½ M Magnum
Sellier & Bellot LR
Winchester WLR |
Test Rig: Osprey Rifles-built F-TR rifle with Savage PTA action, 32″ Bartlein 1:12″-twist ‘Heavy Palma’ barrel, and Dolphin Gun Company modular stock with an F-Open/Benchrest fore-end.
Some of Laurie’s results may surprise you. For example, would you guess that Sellier & Bellot primers had the lowest ES, by a significant margin? And get this, among ALL the primers tested, Rem 9½M Magnum primers produced the lowest velocity, while Rem 9½ LR (non-magnum) primers yielded the highest velocity. (The total velocity spread for all primers was 35 fps). That’s counter-intuitive and it’s odd that Rems were at opposite ends of the speed spectrum among ALL primers tested.
“The rationale for doing side-by-side tests is to see what effect primer choice has on ballistics, i.e. average velocities and MV consistency. There are a great many views on the subject, a few based on tests (including primer flame photography) but most apparently hearsay.” — Laurie Holland
Every serious hand-loader should definitely read the full test results to understand Laurie’s methodology and get all the details. This is an important test, with significant findings. But if you can’t spare the time right now, here are some highlights below:
Primer with Lowest Velocity: Remington 9½ M Magnum (2780 fps)
Primer with Highest Velocity: Remington 9½ LR (2815 fps)
Primer with Lowest ES/SD: Sellier & Bellot LR (12/3.1 fps)
Primer with Highest ES/SD: Remington 9½ M Magnum (47/14.0 fps)
Primer with Smallest Group Size: Remington 9½ LR (0.43″ average, three 5-shot groups)
Primer with Biggest Group Size: CBC Magtech 9½ (0.7″ average, three 5-shot groups)
Editor’s Comment: Laurie shot three, 5-shot groups at 100 yards with each primer type. The average group size for the top six primers varied by only 0.10″ (0.43″ to 0.53″), so one can’t conclude that one type is much better than another. Total group size variance (from best to worst) was 0.27″.
“The biggest surprise to me … came from an elderly (at least 10 years) lot of Czech Sellier & Bellot standard caps with an ES of 12 and SD of 3.1 fps, way below those of the nearest competitor. By contrast to the Fiocchis, they were an almost slack fit in the cases and this may have contributed to their consistent performance.” — Laurie Holland
NOTE: Values in chart are based on 15-Shot strings. The ES/SD numbers will therefore be higher than is typical with five-shot strings.
Testing 16 primer types was a huge task — we commend Laurie for his hard work and thoroughness. This extensive test is an important contribution to the “knowledge base” of precision shooting. Laurie’s findings will doubtless influence many hand-loaders who hope to produce more consistent ammunition, or achieve better accuracy. Credit should also be given to Target Shooter Magazine for publishing the results. Well done gentlemen…
*Reloading method for Test Ammo: “Test batches consisted of 16 or 17 rounds for each primer, charges thrown by an RCBS ChargeMaster and checked on lab-quality electronic scales, adjusted if necessary to within ± 0.04gn, so any charge weight variation would be under 0.1 grain which equates here to 5 fps.”
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March 9th, 2015
You may not have heard of Vista Outdoor (NYSE: VSTO), but you’ll know many of the brands under its corporate umbrella: Alliant Powder, Blackhawk, Bolle, Bushnell, CCI, Federal Premium, Outers, RCBS, Savage Arms, Simmons, Speer, Weaver. To learn more about Vista Outdoor’s operations and products, visit www.vistaoutdoor.com or Vista Outdoor’s Facebook Page.
CLICK HERE for Vista Outdoor Brands. | CLICK HERE for Vista Outdoor Company History
So what is Vista Outdoor? This corporate giant used to be the sporting division of ATK (Alliant Techsystems*). In February of this year, ATK split into two separate companies. The outdoor sports/hunting/shooting brands (with annual revenues of $2.3 billion) were consolidated into Vista Outdoor. The aerospace/military contract operations of ATK were continued in a second company, Orbital ATK. Vista Outdoor, now head-quartered in Clearfield, Utah, is a standalone, publicly-traded outdoor sports and recreation company with approximately 5,800 employees worldwide.
In a recent interview with GearJunkie.com, Vista Outdoor’s Chairman/CEO Mark DeYoung revealed that Vista Outdoor will release scores of new products in 2015:
Q: Looking ahead for this year, what to-be-released products are you most excited about?
A: Bushnell has a rangefinder for golf that is innovative. We introduced it at the PGA Show. The A17 rifle from Savage is big news — we sold out of a whole year’s capacity at the SHOT Show. Overall, there are about 130 new products coming this year from our brands[.]
Vista Outdoor Started Trading as VSTO on February 10, 2015
Vista Outdoor “went live” as a separate, publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange on February 10, 2015. Here is the official press release:
Vista Outdoor Inc. (NYSE: VSTO), which previously operated as the Sporting Group of Alliant Techsystems Inc. (“ATK”), announced today the successful completion of its spin-off from ATK (NYSE: ATK) into a standalone, publicly traded outdoor sports and recreation company.
On February 9, 2015, ATK distributed to its stockholders two shares of Vista Outdoor common stock for every share of ATK common stock held as of record on February 2, 2015. Vista Outdoor common stock will begin “regular-way” trading under the symbol “VSTO” on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) today, February 10, 2015, when markets open.
“Today marks the creation of a new leading commercial and consumer-products company focused on innovative solutions, strategic customer partnerships, execution excellence and creating long-term shareholder value,” said Mark DeYoung, Vista Outdoor Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Our consumers depend on our products to deliver quality and performance in a variety of outdoor environments and activities. Our mission is to bring the world outside, and to support and facilitate the success of outdoor enthusiasts as they strive to achieve their own rugged independence.”
About Vista Outdoor Inc.
Vista Outdoor is a leading global designer, manufacturer and marketer in the growing outdoor sports and recreation markets. The company operates in two segments, Outdoor Products and Shooting Sports, and has more than 30 well-recognized brands that provide consumers with a wide range products in the ammunition, firearms and outdoor accessories categories. Vista Outdoor is headquartered in Utah and has manufacturing operations and facilities in 10 U.S. States, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Canada.
*Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) came into being as an independent company in 1990 when Honeywell spun off its defense businesses to shareholders. ATK got into the ammo business in 2001 when it acquired Blount International. ATK grew with later acquisitions of Weaver Optics (2008), Blackhawk (2010), Savage Arms (2013), and Bushnell (2013).
Story tip by EdLongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
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January 20th, 2015
Semi-auto 17 HMR — could this be the perfect light-recoiling fun gun and squirrel slayer? With its new A17, Savage has created a gun that should be hugely popular. If you like the Ruger 10/22, you’ll love the A17. It shoots a more powerful cartridge, and has a stronger action and a better trigger. With a beefy steel action that looks like it belongs on a centerfire, this gun is strong. With quality barrels (fitted, as you’d expect, with a barrel nut), the A17 is accurate. And with the capability to launch 17 HMR rounds as fast as you can pull the trigger this gun is a hoot to shoot. The ability to get a quick second shot (without disturbing the rifle by working the bolt) will be a game-changer in the varmint fields.
Watch Us Shoot the New A17 (Rapid-Fire at 1:50):
Star of the Show
Jason and I both felt that the star of this 2015 Industry Range Day was this modestly-priced little Savage A17 in 17 HMR. MSRP is $469.00 we were told. No one knows the “street price” yet but we expect that to be about $370.00. Both of us wanted to own one of these compact new rifles (Jason tried to buy one on the spot) — what does that tell you? With a strong steel action, the A17 is accurate, fun, and ultra-reliable.
Jason put the gun through three rapid fire drills — firing as fast as he could pull the trigger. We could not get the A17 to malfunction in any way. It just ripped through magazines like a sewing machine. Flawless operation. Bill Dermody of ATK says “this is one of the most thoroughly tested Savage rifles ever. We put over half a million test rounds through the rifle during development. That’s why it’s so reliable.”
The Magic Chicklet
Look below at the A17 bolt. The little black hardened metal piece (called a “chicklet” by the Savage engineers) is the secret ingredient. It works like a retracting lug, allowing the A17 to operate in delayed blow-back mode. That permits the A17 to function flawlessly with the energetic 17 HMR cartridge.
Optimized 17 HMR Ammo That’s 100 FPS Faster
CCI has developed new, higher-velocity 17 HMR ammo for the A17. Because Savage is now part of the ATK conglomerate, CCI is now Savage’s sister company. So, CCI and Savage cooperated during the development of the A17. CCI found a way to get more speed from the 17 HMR and Savage engineered an action and bolt that are strong enough to handle the new 17 HMR ammo, which runs 100 fps faster than other 17 HMR ammo on the market.
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August 24th, 2014
Need primers? Bullets.com is running a sale right now with a wide variety of primer types from all the major primer manufacturers. Millions of primers are in stock now, ready to ship. To make the deal even better, Bullets.com charges just twenty bucks ($20.00) for the Hazmat Fee. You can mix and match primers and powders and ship with the single $20.00, plus actual shipping charges.
Click this link for all Bullets.com PRIMER deals
Save Even More with Large Orders
Here are some examples of in-stock items ON SALE now. Note, with many of these primer types, you can save even more by ordering 5000 primers. For example, if you order 5000 CCI 450 primers the price per box is just $26.55. If you buy 5000 Rem 7 1/2 primers, the price is just $30.56, a significant savings over the $34.65 single box price.
- CCI BR4 Small Rifle Primers, Item # BL3911, $49.46
- CCI 400 Small Rifle Primers, Item # BL3905, $24.75
- CCI 450 Small Rifle Magnum Primers, Item # BL3909, $27.45
- Federal Gold Medal Large Pistol Match Primers, Item # BL3923, $32.90
- Remington 7-1/2 Small Rifle BR Primers, Item # BL11316, $34.65
- Winchester WSR Small Rifle Primers, Item # BL8030, $29.66
- Winchester Large Rifle Primers, Item # BL8028, $28.76
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July 6th, 2014
 This holiday weekend, Grafs.com has been offering value-priced combos of powder and primers. AR guys and varmint hunters should like the combination of Hodgdon CFE223 powder and CCI 400 (small rifle) primers (item #July4combo01). This combo gives you six (6) pounds of CFE223 powder plus 5,000 CCI 400 primers for $265.99, plus a single $28.50 hazmat fee.
If you prefer Winchester powder, you can get 6 pounds of Winchester 748 powder plus 5000 CCI 400 primers for $269.99 (plus hazmat). Lastly, if you prefer to purchase by the jug, Grafs.com is offering a combo pack (item #July4combo03) with one 8-pound jug of IMR4064 plus 5,000 CCI 400 primers for $299.99 (plus hazmat). Take your pick — these are all pretty good deals.
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June 19th, 2014
 Need Primers? Midsouth Shooters Supply (Midsouth) has a large selection of primers in stock right now. Yes Midsouth has the hard-to-find CCI BR-4 primers, as well CCI 450s (small rifle magnum), CCI 200s (large rifle), and CCI 250s (large rifle magnum). Midsouth also has large quantities of Rem 6.5s and Winchester rifle primers. If you need pistol or shotshell primers, Midsouth has plenty of those right now as well.
Get ‘Em While They’re Hot — These are In-Stock Today at 11:00 am ET
Here is a screenshot of some of the more popular rifle primers that were in-stock today (6/19/2014) at Midsouth. If you need ‘em, don’t hesitate to place your orders. You snooze, you loose.
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May 18th, 2014
 Where did all the .22 LR ammunition go? Why are the prices so high? Why can’t the rimfire ammo-makers step up production? Across the country, firearm owners are asking these questions, and demanding answers.
Part of the explanation comes down to production capacity. America’s rimfire ammo production facilities are already running at full capacity. There is no easy way in increase production. In the video below, the crew from Shooting USA Television visits the ATK production facility in Lewiston, Idaho. This plant can produce 4,000,000 rounds of CCI rimfire ammo in one 24-hour period. This informative video shows the complete process of rimfire ammunition production from start to finish.
YouTube Video Link: http://youtu.be/t5qMsmucXhI.
This is a ‘must-watch’ video that reveals some very interesting things. Did you know that 1200 cases (in one large tray) are filled with powder in a single operation? (See 05:45 mark). Likewise, bullets are also lined up in a matching 1200-count tray (See 6:00 mark). This way 1200 bullets can be seated into 1200 rimfire cases in one efficient procedure.
When you watch the video, and see the complex, expensive machinery involved, you’ll realize that it’s no easy thing to increase rimfre ammo production. The rimfire plants are already running at full capacity. To produce significantly greater quantities of .22 LR ammunition, manufacturers would have to make huge capital investments.
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April 30th, 2014
 Alliant Techsystems (ATK or Alliant) is merging its aerospace/defense operations with Virginia-based Orbital Sciences. At the same time, ATK plans to spin off its sporting arms, ammo, and outdoor gear operations into a separate, stand-alone business. ATK sells sporting products under numerous brands including Alliant Powder, Blackhawk, Bushnell, CCI, Champion, Federal Premium, RCBS, Savage Arms, Speer, and Weaver Optics. The new Alliant sporting business will operate from Utah, while the merged Orbital-ATK aerospace business will be managed from Virginia.
According to the Washington Post: “The separation of ATK’s core segments gives it the opportunity to focus on its sporting goods sector, which has grown to a $2.2 billion business through several mergers and acquisitions over the past decade. The company manufactures commercial sporting equipment for hunters, shooters and law enforcement agencies.”
 The announced merger of Alliant and Orbital, and the spin-off of the sporting business, should benefit Alliant shareholders. Alliant shares rose 8% yesterday. Alliant shareholders will own 53.8% of the new Orbital-ATK aerospace company, and Alliant shareholders will retain full ownership of the new spin-off sporting enterprise. Alliant’s current CEO and president, Mark DeYoung, will take over as chairman and CEO of the new sporting business.
Will the new Alliant Sporting operation continue to grow? Analysts believe that it will. Management has shown interest in building the company via more sporting industry acquisitions. Analysts believe the Alliant sporting division is poised for continued expansion. While Alliant’s aerospace operations have suffered in recent years from cuts in defense spending, the sporting division has seen impressive revenue growth.
According to StarTribune.com: “The sporting unit’s rocket-like growth has captured the attention of Wall Street analysts. Barclays Capital analyst Carter Copeland recently boosted his forecast on Alliant, noting that “over time … the sporting group has made a more significant portion of the total company’s sales and earnings. … The last seven quarters the business has posted average organic growth on a year-over-year basis of 23 percent.”
For those in the shooting community, the spin-off of ATK’s sporting operations is probably a good thing. The new company can focus on guns, ammo, and outdoor accessories, rather than aerospace programs with long development cycles. Likewise the new company should be more responsive to consumers, as it can adjust production to current market demands, rather than fixed government defense contracts. ATK officials stated that “the company’s Sporting and Aerospace/Defense businesses operate in two fundamentally different markets with very different operating dynamics, compliance requirements, customer sets and growth opportunities. As standalone companies, they will be more focused businesses, with clear and distinct strategic visions and objectives, additional operational flexibility and the financial strength to make the most of their unique opportunities in their respective industries.”
Under the terms of the transaction agreement, ATK will distribute ownership of Sporting to ATK shareholders in a spin-off transaction, following which, ATK shareholders will own 100 percent of Sporting. The spin-off will be immediately followed by a merger of Orbital with a subsidiary of ATK, with Orbital surviving the merger and becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of ATK. In connection with the merger, Orbital shareholders will receive 0.449 shares of ATK common stock for each share of Orbital common stock that they hold. Upon the closing of the merger, ATK shareholders will own approximately 53.8 percent of the combined company on a fully diluted basis and Orbital shareholders will own the remaining approximately 46.2 percent of the combined company on a fully diluted basis.
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