Ladies at Gunsite &
AAC Charity Suppressor Shoot and Competition
 

Shooting USA - Ladies at Gunsite

Rights demand responsibility. Especially the right to keep and bear arms. Those words sum up the philosophy America’s most renown training academy that’s been offering firearms instruction to law enforcement, to elite military, and to law-abiding citizens for 35 years. Buz Mills and his instructors now continue the teaching tradition created by the late Jeff Cooper. Gunsite teaches the legal, safe and effective right to self-defense.  A right considered very important to a group of students from Smith & Wesson. These shooters have come from East Coast and West.  They are all from Smith & Wesson. Some are company executives.  Some are family members.  A few do business with the firearms maker. And all of them are women here to learn and practice safe and effective gun handling and self-defense.

But at Gunsite firearms technique is only the beginning. The most important lesson is that self-defense is mostly in your mind.

Buz Mills says,  “The gun is not the major part of it.  The gun is a tool and what we’re dealing with is the mindset. We teach them don’t look like prey, don’t look like food, don’t look like the hunted. Look like the hunter and you may never have to employ the skills that you learn here, if you approach your life that way.”

And that is why the Smith & Wesson women are at Gunsite. To improve their defensive pistol skills, to build their confidence when handling firearms and to do it the Gunsite way.

Ginger Chandler – S&W Vice President of Product Design – certainly believes that philosophy,

“Absolutely!. It gives you confidence. You know how you are going to be able to handle yourself.  And you make a plan. You make a plan. And so you think about every situation you are going to go in, and you’re not a victim.”

Related Links:

Gun Site Academy  

Smith & Wesson M&P 9

Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .380

Pro Tip – Todd Jarrett on Concealed Carry Practice and Malfunctions

Todd reminds us our concealed carry compact autoloaders can malfunction and that you should be practicing to be sure it’s ready if you ever need it. See the Pro Tip here.

Crimson Trace is ready with a new laser guard for the Ruger LC 9, the larger 9mm version of the LCP.  The laser guard clips on the trigger guard with the laser under the barrel. The activation switch is under the trigger guard and, like all Crimson Trace lasers, it’s activated when you take a proper grip.

Suggested Retail  $209.

More Info from Crimson Trace

Mike Irvine’s Duck Tech – The Layout Blind

It’s an old cliché, you got to go where the ducks are.  It’s old but it’s very true.  This little 14 foot John boat is great for getting in the flooded backwaters and flooded timber, but when you’re in a field a boat’s not going to do you much good, and that’s when you’re going to need a layout blind, now layout blinds are great, and they have revolutionized the way we hunt ducks and geese, but you have to know how to use them. This is the Qu’Appelle valley. Where the term big sky is an understatement. Where the endless fields and small pounds are home to thousands of ducks beginning their journey south.  Most of the land is harvested pea fields, the ducks love it, and decoys standout in the open areas, but it’s a challenging place to hide your human form. The key is to find an area with some extra cover. In our case this pea field has one spot of wild grass. The grass is only a few feet tall,  but that is plenty to hide a layout blind.  If you do it correctly.

I want to show you what we did with these blinds, where we have them laying we have the grass that’s immediately below them pulled out and pushed up that’s the layer of grass you see around the bottom edge.  Then took grass that was far behind us, and we used it for the clumps in these straps up on top.  Get them up high so they’ll blow in the breeze like the rest of the grass that’s all around.  If you do it all right it doesn’t matter what you wear these layout blinds will hide you.

The layout blind will hide everything up to your face, remember nothing stands out more to a duck then the glare of human skin. So As the ducks approach sink low into the shadows of the grass and blind. You’ll know when you get it right.

Here we go, they’ll come right over the top. Get ready guys!  Let’s go!.. Good shooting boys, good shooting!

An extra tip, when you’re gathering brush to put in the layout blind.  Get it from as far away as you possibly can, you don’t want to disrupt any of the natural cover around you, I’ve seen a lot of guys make the mistake of creating a bald spot right next to their layout blind, that looks as unnatural as the blind itself. And that’s this week Duck Tech.

The Final Approach Pack and Go

Padded Backrest, Spring loaded doors. Folds to pack in and out. Nice enhancements for a successful field hunt. The Pack and Go blind retails for about $200.

More info from Final Approach

Re-loaders already know, when reloading for accuracy every step must be perfect to get it right. But our reloading expert Kent Sakamoto says one of the most common mistakes hand loaders make is in setting up the bullet seating die. So here’s Kent with right way to do it. For this demonstration Kent will be using a cutaway-seating die and a cutaway single stage press. This will allow you to see the process for setting the seating die and crimping a round. To begin setting the seat die Run the case up.

Add the seating die by screwing it down until it’s stopped by the crimp shoulder. The crimp shoulder is simply the location where the cartridge case mouth contacts the seating die. Then back the die out one full turn.  And tighten the die lock ring with the die lock wrench. Place the bullet on the case, run the case up, and seat the bullet. This top screw is the seat plug, set it to your desired cartridge length. This is a trial and error process that may take several attempts. Once correct tighten the seat plug lock nut and the bullet is seated with no crimp.

Kent:  “This is the proper way to set your seat die.  At this point you could start cranking out your rounds.  If you need to crimp your rounds, there are a few extra steps starting with backing up your seat plug.” 

With the seat plug backed out, run the cartridge back up and loosen the die lock ring and turn the die body down until it hits the crimp shoulder. Lower the cartridge and turn the die down an 1/8 of a turn.  Cycle the case and check the result.

Kent: “At this point you check your crimp.  Since we are using a cutaway die it’s not a 100% if you were using a regular seat die your crimp would look like this.  If your crimp is acceptable re-insert the case, run it back up into the die and lock the die lock ring.”

Now run the seat plug down to the bullet and tighten the seat plug lock nut.  You are now ready to seat and crimp your rounds. Now whether you decide to crimp in your seating die is a question that involves bullet choice, and the intended use of your rifle or pistol cartridge, and knowing how your cartridge is indexed in the chamber to fire. As always, consult a quality reloading manual for the answer to that question.  But now you know how to set up your die.

RCBS Website

Re-enactors…the most visible are Civil War re-enactors who frequently gather to re-stage the battles of the war between the states and they like to draw a crowd of spectators to see history on display. But there’s another group of history buffs who are quite simply not visible. They’re the thousand members of the GWA, the Great War Association, that twice a year gather on their private property for a Total Immersion re-enactment of the trench battles of World War One.  Nothing on the property is newer than 1918, except our high definition camera, as videographer Chris Gerlach, dressed as a combat photographer, captured the extraordinary event.

The high overhead shot, the incoming shot, is one that a lot of waterfowl hunters, and dove hunters especially, frequently encounter when they are in the field. Now a lot of hunters have trouble with this shot. I think they over-think it. The mechanics are simple. You just have to let your instincts take over to figure lead and angle. If you do this, you’ll hit those shots consistently. Let’s see if I can get another.  Pull.

Here’s how to execute this shot. You’re in the field. You see a bird coming across straight over your head. You start tracking him. Follow it. Follow it. When that bird gets just right pull slightly ahead of him and touch your shot off. Don’t worry about lead or angles or anything else. Just move your shotgun ahead of that bird, touch your shot off and he’s going to drop. Pull. This shot is just like any other. Come out to the range. Get set up where you can practice that incoming, overhead shot. Shoot it a few times, get used to it. You’ll be able to hit that shot consistently.  And you’ll bring home more birds.

Testing the Ithaca Turkey Slayer at 50 yards

The loads:  Federal Premium Heavy Weight Turkey load--12 gauge, number five shot.

The pattern is plenty dense to knock down a Tom at 50 yards. 

Info from Ithaca Gun Company

Federal Premium Website

The AAC Remington Defense Suppressor Shoot is a charity event for the public to try out all sorts of pistols and rifles equipped with suppressors.  The goal is to educate the participants about the benefits of shooting suppressed and about the legalities involved in owning the technology.  AAC's parent company Remington Defense is on hand with rifles and ammunition and all of the proceeds benefit the International Pleuropulmonary Blastoma Registry of Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.  The Event raises just over fifty thousand dollars for the charity.

The location: The Tier One Group Training Ranges - Memphis

Related Links:

Advanced Armament Website

Remington Defense Website 

Tier One Group Ranges and Training

An easy change for your AR to give you forend rails without having to remove the gas system to mount.

Suggested Retail $205. Also available in Carbine Length.

Blackhawk! Info   

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Discount Link -- Save $10 when you join the NRA