David E. Petzal - The Gun Nuttag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-2907872009-01-09T14:20:37ZRantings and ravings from Field and Stream's David E. PetzalTypePadBourjaily: "Claimers"tag:typepad.com,2003:post-610968202009-01-09T09:20:37-05:002009-01-09T14:20:37ZClaiming – shooting at the same time as someone else, then hollering “I got it!” – ranks fairly high on the list of ways to annoy to your hunting partners. I try only to say “Nice Shot!” on the rare occasions I shoot at the same bird as someone else. I had a bird claimed from me when I first...NatePetzal: A Semi-Painful Reuniontag:typepad.com,2003:post-610469022009-01-08T10:29:49-05:002009-01-08T15:29:49ZBetween 1970 and about 1990, I was a dedicated collector of fine, wood-stocked hunting rifles. I didn’t have a lot of them, but what I did have was choice, and among the very best were four that were made by a North Carolina artist (now retired) named Joe Balickie. Joe was so thin that when he took a shower he...NatePhil Bourjaily: Ruger Red Labeltag:typepad.com,2003:post-609504502009-01-06T12:57:01-05:002009-01-06T17:57:01ZThe father of one of my son’s friends called the other day to say he had a chance to pick up a used Ruger Red Label and should he buy it for his son? Since I had just come back from a wonderful quail hunt in Texas and still harbored warm, fuzzy feelings for the 20 gauge Red Label I...NatePetzal: And Now, A Really Manly Handguntag:typepad.com,2003:post-608952262009-01-05T12:40:34-05:002009-01-05T17:40:34ZMy thanks to Tom McIntyre for this one. In the beginning was the .357 Magnum, and it was good, and then the .44 Magnum, which was much better, and made Clint Eastwood famous and Elmer Keith happy. Eventually, though, rumblings of discontent were heard throughout the land, and there followed the .454 Casull, and the .475 Linebaugh, and the .480...NatePetzal: Predictions for the New Yeartag:typepad.com,2003:post-606296562008-12-31T09:12:17-05:002008-12-31T14:12:17Z“Coach says it’s OK to bleed from the ears.”—Reggie Ray, in Not Another Teen Movie For fear the hearts of men are failing, For these are latter days we know. The Great Depression now is spreading; God’s word declared it would be so. I’m going where there’s no Depression, To that lovely land that’s free from care. I’ll leave this...NateBourjaily: Winchester Small-Gauge Steeltag:typepad.com,2003:post-606294502008-12-31T09:02:37-05:002008-12-31T14:02:37ZFor years, every time I talked to any shotshell maker, I put in my plug for small-gauge steel loads. They would tell me it was impossible to make a wad thick enough to protect barrels and still hold a meaningful amount of shot. But, they were lying to me because as of now we have steel 28 and .410 loads....NatePetzal: The Problem With Guessworktag:typepad.com,2003:post-605586242008-12-29T11:59:29-05:002008-12-29T16:59:29ZI’ve written before that the only ballistic information you can believe is what comes out of your barrel and hits your targets. This was driven home yet again last week when I ran some drop tests on my beloved 6.5x55 New Ultra Light Arms rifle. I use two loads in it: the first is Norma factory rounds firing 156-grain Oryx...NatePetzal: Some Savagery for the New Yeartag:typepad.com,2003:post-603531082008-12-29T09:00:00-05:002008-12-29T14:00:00ZSavage Arms, which gave the shooting industry the leaping fantods when it introduced the Accu-Trigger, has just announced the Accu-Stock, which is just as radical. In stocks, as in other areas, the more rigid the better, and there are a couple of ways to achieve this. The first is used by High Tech, McMillan, and New Ultra Light Arms, who...NatePetzal: The Spottertag:typepad.com,2003:post-603526082008-12-23T11:13:56-05:002008-12-23T16:13:56ZThe role of the spotter (also called the observer) in a sniper/ spotter team is to give the target location tothe sniper, provide windage and distance information, spot bullet impact, and make corrections. It may also be the spotter's responsibility to provide security for the sniper, in which case he will be armed with an M-16, M4, M-14 with scope,...NateBourjaily: Slow-Mo Skeettag:typepad.com,2003:post-603110042008-12-22T11:00:11-05:002008-12-22T16:00:11ZThis clip comes from “Time Warp,” a Discovery Channel show that applies slow-motion photography to cool stuff, in this case, shooting clay targets or “skeets” as the voice-over guy insists on calling them. Mostly, this is just fun to watch – especially the part where they shoot balloons. What was interesting to me from a technical standpoint was the slow-motion...NatePetzal: More on Plaxico and Christmas tag:typepad.com,2003:post-602178222008-12-19T10:54:09-05:002008-12-19T15:54:09ZA judge of my acquaintance--a regular reader of this blog and a hard and pitiless man to whom the mere mention of mercy is a mortal affront--takes issue with my prediction that Plaxico Burress will skate because of who he is. There are, says Ye Judge, ways around mandatory sentences, but the uproar over Burress’ Glock groping has eliminated them,...NateBourjaily: K-9 G.P.S.tag:typepad.com,2003:post-601269782008-12-17T09:22:46-05:002008-12-17T14:22:46ZI first saw the Garmin Astro in action last week. A friend and I were hunting pheasants in some long grass when Scott’s dog went on point. Even when he’s locked up tight, Gunner’s tail wags, and I could see it vibrating in the weeds about 30 yards away. “Scott, your dog’s on point,” I said. Scott pulled a gizmo...NatePetzal: More On Axestag:typepad.com,2003:post-600857642008-12-16T11:29:18-05:002008-12-16T16:29:18ZChange two, as we used to say in the Army. The maker of the breaching axes is Daniel Winkler who, for twenty years or more has been pre-eminent in the re-creation of frontier cutlery. The upper photo shows the Naval Special Warfare Breaching/Combat Axe; the lower one is the Army Special Operations Combat Axe. But there’s more to the story....NatePetzal: A Little Touch Of Hometag:typepad.com,2003:post-600345522008-12-15T10:09:07-05:002008-12-15T15:09:07ZA knifemaker friend of mine who specializes in re-creating frontier-era weapons not long ago began making breeching axes for an American special ops group. The axes are actually tomahawk size, ground from S-7 impact-resisting steel. The head and the shaft are one piece, and the handle is completed by slabs, or scales, pinned and epoxied to either side of the...NateAnd Now For Something Different In The, Uh, Shooting Sportstag:typepad.com,2003:post-599193362008-12-12T09:49:08-05:002008-12-12T14:49:08ZMy thanks to regular blogger JB, who sent this in. It seems the Canadian Women’s Biathlon* team has posed nude for a calendar they are selling to support their efforts at winning Olympic gold. The calendar went on sale in early November, has 14 months’ worth of photos, costs $25, and takes 2 to 4 weeks for delivery. You can...NateBourjaily: Party Limitstag:typepad.com,2003:post-598205822008-12-10T14:53:09-05:002008-12-10T19:53:09ZMy friend M.D. called me a few nights ago to say he had permission to hunt a field full of geese and did I want to come hunt? I was already leaning toward “yes” when he delivered the clincher: “You can sleep in. They’ve been flying about 9:30 so if we leave my house by a little after 8:00 that’s...NateBourjaily: Can You Hear Me Now?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-597447122008-12-09T09:15:14-05:002008-12-09T14:15:14ZMy hearing isn’t getting any better as I get older, but my friends’ hearing loss is catching up to mine. I attribute that to my wearing hearing protection any time I shoot a gun on the range or in the field. In my early 20s I went on my first dove hunt, and burned through five or six boxes of...NatePetzal: Suggestions for Santatag:typepad.com,2003:post-596622182008-12-08T09:36:26-05:002008-12-08T14:36:26Z“Christmas time is here by golly, Disapproval would be folly, Deck the halls with hunks of holly, Fill the cup and don’t say ‘When.’ Kills the turkeys, ducks and chickens Mix the punch, drag out the Dickens, Even though the prospect sickens, Brother, here we go again.”—A Christmas Carol, by Tom Lehrer Let’s come to an understanding. I will pretend...NateBourjaily: Why I am a Girlie-Mantag:typepad.com,2003:post-595428082008-12-05T10:32:13-05:002008-12-05T15:32:13ZIt’s a bad bird year around here, so people I know have been traveling for their pheasants. A friend of mine just came back from northwest Iowa, impressed by the numbers of birds but bemused at his reception by the locals. “They called me a girlie- man hunter because I shoot a 12 gauge,” Cody reported. “They said real men...NatePetzal: No Prison for Plaxico?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-593600582008-12-02T12:17:25-05:002008-12-02T17:17:25ZIf you watch the ads that the NFL runs during commercial breaks, its players are a bunch of benevolent behemoths who spend their spare time playing games with children, rescuing kittens, and working for world peace. What the NFL does not advertise is that some of its non-benevolent behemoths spend their spare time engaged in mayhem, armed and unarmed. The...NateBourjaily: My Favorite Gun Movietag:typepad.com,2003:post-593512742008-12-02T10:06:16-05:002008-12-02T15:06:16ZToday’s topic is Favorite Gun Movies, a category that includes any film in which movie makers actually try to get guns, hunting or shooting right. Winchester ’73 is a great gun movie (with showman-shooter Herb Parsons standing off camera, “stunt” shooting for Jimmy Stewart). Saving Private Ryan is a great gun movie. As a shotgunner, I really like The Shooting...NatePetzal: A Strange, Sad Baboon Storytag:typepad.com,2003:post-592936602008-12-01T09:49:17-05:002008-12-01T14:49:17ZIn the early 1950s the African professional hunter Alexander Lake wrote about an unsettling experience he had with a troop of baboons. Lake had been shooting them for bounty (they are hell on crops and young animals, and ranchers, farmers, and PHs hate them). Lake found himself unarmed in the middle of a troop of the beasts, face to face...NatePetzal: A Few More Words About Politics and Targetstag:typepad.com,2003:post-590879222008-11-26T09:18:00-05:002008-11-26T14:18:00ZOn Thursday, 11/20, we were treated to the edifying spectacle of United States Senators rising to applaud Ted Stevens (R-AK), who is a convicted felon (and was, it should also be noted, a very good friend to gun owners). You’d think that someone in his position would clean out his office at midnight and leave without a word, but this...NateBourjaily: Jed's First Roostertag:typepad.com,2003:post-590878442008-11-26T09:15:25-05:002008-11-26T14:15:25ZI thought all of you who have helped me name and train my dog with your posts might like this picture. It’s me, Jed and his first rooster, shot Tuesday, November 25, near Oxford, Iowa. We were looking for the singles from a covey rise of bobwhites when Jed found this bird hunkered in a hank of grass about halfway...NateBourjaily: Flying with Gunstag:typepad.com,2003:post-590186782008-11-25T09:00:55-05:002008-11-25T14:00:55ZMany years ago, my dad flew to Wisconsin on a hunting trip and carried his O/U onto the plane in a takedown case. He and the stewardess had the following exchange: Her: “Is that a gun?” Him: “Yes.” Her: “It’s not loaded, is it?” Him: “It’s not even put together.” Then, because it was the 60s and air travel was...Nate