Outdoor Life - Shooting skills RSS

Lessons from Sniper School: Three Optics Tips for Long-Range Shooting

Alex Robinson — Wed, 01 May 2013 14:31:18 -0400

Top-flight shooting instruction has never been easier to come by, particularly with the proliferation of long-range precision rifle schools, most of which have been strongly influenced by modern sniper techniques. One of the keys to being more effective at long ranges is to get the most out of your riflescope, binoculars, and spotting scope.

Here's three tips from the pros.

1) Glassing Effectively
The trick to glassing is to do it in a deliberate, unrushed manner. When you settle on a spot, keep your binocular still and look all around the area in view. Once your scan is complete, shift the bino up (or over) to glass the adjoining ground. Make your circles slightly overlap, as the extreme edges in a binocular are often out of focus. This way you’ll be less likely to overlook that bedded buck.

Also make a habit of looking for bits of an animal—the symmetrical spread of ears or the head, the white patch from a mule deer’s rump, the glint off an antler—rather than the whole body. You’ll spot more game this way.

2) Push/Pull Dialing
When the time comes to adjust the crosshairs on your rifle, seconds count, so it pays to learn to dial in windage or elevation corrections quickly, without lifting your head from the stock and losing view of the target. For a right-handed shooter, pushing forward with the thumb on the knobs, rotating them clockwise, will move the point of impact down or to the left, while pulling on the turrets moves them up or to the right. Memorize this “push/pull” method to dial in faster.

3) Picking a Scope
If you’re going to get serious about shooting at long ranges with targets at unknown distances, your scope needs to be up to the task. That means target-style elevation and windage turrets that are easy to operate under shooting conditions, and a focus knob that allows adjustments for parallax. (How often should you adjust for parallax? With every shot.)

For range estimation and accurate holdover, I’ve come to prefer a mil-dot reticle. Once mastered, it is amazingly effective. Likewise, get a scope that adjusts in 0.1 mil increments. Lastly, a reticle in the front focal plane lets you use the reticle’s holdover marks at any magnification you choose.

Illuminated Reticles Are Useless on Big-Game Riflescopes

Alex Robinson — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:49:54 -0400

The fastest growing segment of the sporting-optics market is electronic illumination of a scope’s crosshairs. And it may be the most useless hunting-gear gimmick since the DeerView Mirror, a backward-looking reflector for your treestand. Check out the lineup of new scopes at your sporting-goods store. I’ll bet more than half have a bulbous illumination knob above the eyebox or opposite the windage and elevation knobs, distorting the otherwise lovely lines of the optic. But illumination modules also add weight, as well as a mechanism to fail and a battery to die.

Red is the most common illumination color, but a number of scopes also feature green and blue. And instead of illuminating a subtle aiming point, most of these battery-powered units light up the entire reticle like a Christmas tree on fire.

Illumination is a great asset on some scopes, like the low-magnification optics used on ARs for short-range work, such as clearing dark, dangerous houses. But here’s why they’re worse than useless on higher-magnifying big-game hunting optics:

- Legal light for most big-game hunting is a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset. Outdoor Life’s annual optics test has revealed that all but the cheapest, darkest glass is bright enough to resolve antlers, vital areas, and aiming points even several minutes after legal light fades. Not only will most glass let you “see” into the dark, but most non-illuminated reticles are visible long after legal light has ended.

- Any illumination brighter than a barely perceptible point will ruin your night vision. Yet many of these reticles are calibrated for high intensity, not subtlety, forcing shooters to concentrate on the blazing crosshair instead of the dim target. And when a reticle is awash in light, the optic glows with so much internal reflection that precise shooting becomes increasingly difficult as ambiant light fades.

- Artificially illuminated aiming devices are illegal for big-game hunting in some states. Even if you never turn on the illumination, its presence on your rifle could be setting you up for an avoidable wildlife violation.

- Building a bright, clear optic is difficult and expensive. Instead of investing in optical technology, scope manufacturers that turn to high-intensity illumination are grabbing market share with the luminescent equivalent of bells and whistles. Savvy hunters would do well to spend their money on good glass, not electronic gimmickry.

Shooting Tips: Rifle Skills That Will Make You a Better Hunter

Alex Robinson — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 12:45:36 -0500

It’s the time to elevate your skills for next hunting season. We reached out to two authorities to assemble this guide. Both are accomplished hunters, shooters, and competitors. Wayne Van Zwoll discusses the fine points of practical field marksmanship while Bryce Towsley interviewed some of the country’s best shooting instructors to create the drills illustrated here, most of which can be done at ranges of 100 yards or less. Good shooting.

Focus While Practicing
Good shooting starts in your head. Dry-firing can be as valuable as live-fire practice. But simply pulling a trigger isn’t a drill. “Make each shot count,” says Lones Wigger, who’s won a truckload of shooting medals, including Olympic gold. “When I practice, every shot gets my best effort, down to the smallest detail. Consistency matters. Such focus is exhausting. When I can no longer concentrate, I quit for the day.”

As with any discipline, bad shots in practice amount to practice in bad shooting. Call your shots before you see where they’ve hit. Not all will punch the middle, but if you feel the rifle hop to 10 o’clock at let-off, and a hole appears there, rejoice! When bullets hit where you don’t predict, suspect a flinch or rough trigger squeeze. Slow down. When practicing, a bull’s-eye and a couple of well-called bloopers beat a target sieved by holes you can’t explain. And with a hunt on the line, a slow hit trumps a fast miss.

Improve Your Positions
Probably the best (and most affordable) way to practice different shooting positions is with a rimfire rifle that approximates the weight and feel of your deer rifle, and a brick of .22 LR ammo. Fire at paper 50 yards away. I tape 2-inch squares of white bond on corrugated cardboard. Prone, you’ll easily keep the reticle inside this 4-minute mark. A low sit should prove almost as steady. Try three sitting positions: crossed-leg, crossed-ankle, and with your knees tent-like, comfortably spread, heels grounded.

The crossed-leg sit puts your center of gravity very low. This is great when you’re 16, with the flexibility of a rope. Age makes this pose as pleasant as a cramp. You can condition muscles into compliance by supporting your rifle Buddha-like while watching TV. Crossed-ankle is faster and easier—but you must still lean far over, with the flats of your elbows on your knees. Because the “footprints” of crossed positions are smaller than that of the knees-up option, the latter works better when shooting from hills and on uneven ground.

Kneeling, you’ll find the rifle swings from 3 to 9 o’clock and back. Counter that by twisting your left (front) foot to parallel your right leg, which should be at about a 45-degree angle to the target. Your weight, and the rifle’s, will hold the foot in place. That shin should be vertical and bear about a third of your weight. Half of your heft is properly on your tailbone atop your right heel, and the remainder is on your rear knee.

Whether sitting or kneeling, bone-on-bone support is key.

Master the Sling
Shooting prone, sitting, or kneeling, you’re smart to use a sling. Unlike a carrying strap, a sling has an adjustable loop. It tugs fiddle-string-tight from the front swivel to above your triceps, pulling the rifle into your shoulder, where bigger muscles can better support it. The sling hangs loose from your arm to the rear swivel.

You’ll want a leather sling like the Brownell’s Latigo I use. Nylon is cheaper but will slip—not what you want when a $6,000 elk hunt hangs on your shot. While the Harris bipod is popular, and a fine aid in low positions, it adds weight and can chafe when the rifle is slung for hiking. Besides, you need a strap or sling for carry anyway. So trade that canoe-paddle cowhide with the colored elk head on the clavicle pad for a Latigo sling.

A sling is of little or no value when you’re shooting off-hand, because your left elbow isn’t anchored. The “hasty sling” is a technique that is used off-hand with a strap or sling wrapped around your arm. It can help deaden tremors, but you’ll likely shoot as well without it.

Zero Right
Before you hunt, check your zero from all hunting positions. A solid rest directs your rifle—and bullet impact—skyward as the bullet sets up vibrations during its passage down the bore. Off-hand, and even in bone-supported positions, the barrel can dip as you pressure the trigger, and as the rifle recoils. A taut sling routinely pulls my point of impact to 7 o’clock. I often zero from slinged-up prone with this impact shift in mind, where on good days I can hold a minute of angle. When one rifle in .300 Winchester printed 5 inches higher at 200 yards from a bench, I stuck with the “sling zero.” If you use an improvised rest afield, be sure to pad the forend with your hand, and never rest the barrel on anything. Hard surfaces cause the rifle to bounce, tossing the bullet wild.

Be sure that you don’t set your zero too far downrange. Most cartridges merit a 200-yard zero. Your bullet will strike 2 to 3 inches high at 100 yards, and about that low from 250 to 280. You can aim point-blank to 250 yards. While some flat-shooting loads permit a 250- or even a 300-yard zero, it’s a mistake to put bullets more than 3 inches high at mid-range, where many shots will likely come. More game is missed high than low. Increasing the gap between sight-line and arc at mid-range is particularly unwise in light of the tendency to shade shots high when animals look small.

Know Your Limits
Flat-shooting cartridges have been around since Charles Newton’s .250 Savage cracked 3,000 fps in 1913. Scopes got markedly better after WWII. Now top gear can drill softball groups at half a mile. But on a hunt, you’re not nipping paper from sandbags. You must make one cold-barrel hit with a bullet built to kill game. Maximum effective range depends more on conditions—wind, distance, animal presentation—than on hardware. Most of all, it depends on your marksmanship.

My personal rule for hunting: I shoot only if under current conditions I can make a lethal hit 90 percent of the time. Think of a deer’s vitals as a 9-inch sphere—a soccer ball between shoulders. Big bucks (and game like elk and moose) offer a bigger target. But as in politics, modest expectations afford a useful margin. In fact, one reason hunters miss (or, worse, make fringe hits) is that they don’t pick a small mark. An entire animal is too large a target. Narrow your focus to a spot on the ribs or shoulder. Aim small; miss small. The longest poke I’ve taken at game put the bullet a hand’s width from my aiming point—still well inside the vitals. Prone, on a windless evening, I didn’t commit to that shot until the reticle settled into a very small orbit on a forward rib.

Shots at running animals are difficult at best, and a bad bet at a distance. A pal who took a running elk at 300 yards told me when pressed that the bullet had struck high in the neck, not through the lungs where intended. He could just as easily have missed or wounded.

Go Low-Mag
Some hunters think a powerful scope will stretch their reach. While you can hit better what you see clearly, you shouldn’t need more than 6X even when conditions justify a long shot. Some years back, when I got a 300-yard chance at an elk, I left my 3–9X scope at 3X. I shot from prone with a taut sling, and the bullet struck right where expected. Remember that high magnification reduces field of view and light transmission, while emphasizing pulse bumps and muscle twitches. You may find shots easier and faster with your scope dial at a modest setting, and you’ll give up little if any precision. Consider that with iron sights, competitive shooters don’t see the bull’s-eye yet achieve great results. It’s okay if your reticle covers the spot you want to hit.

Fire (Only) When Ready
A scope field crammed with antlers can make you do goofy things, so think before you fire. Is this as close as you can get to the beast? Closer is better. Big targets are more forgiving. Should you wait for a better presentation? Can you reach a nearby rock or log, or shed your pack to rest your rifle on? Most hunters have more time than they use. While unnecessary delay can cost you, getting your rifle to settle is crucial. Ditto a controlled trigger pull. Take your time as you drop into the position you practiced, arranging your body so the rifle points naturally at the target, and breathing deeply as you switch off the safety. If you must fire off-hand, aim only when the shot is imminent. Holding the gun tires your muscles, which will then shake, bouncing the reticle all over the landscape.

After the shot, cycle the action. You should be closing the bolt on a fresh cartridge as the rifle comes out of recoil. If you were properly positioned for the first shot, you won’t have to shift your body for a follow-up unless the animal has dashed some distance.

RANGE DRILLS
Shooting Range Drill: How to Speed-Run a Bolt
Shooting Range Drill: Sniper's Up and Down
Shooting Range Drill: How to Make the First Shot Count
Shooting Range Drill: How to Shoot a Keyhole

2012 Olympic Shooting Sports Breakdown

Alex Robinson — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 10:12:25 -0400

The shooting events in the Olympics Games will kick off in London on Saturday July 28. With nearly 400 athletes competing across 15 events, here's a look at some of the shooting sports and the guns our Olympians will be using to bring home the gold.

Numbers to Know
270,000 - Number of clay targets expected to be thrown during both trap and skeet events during the 2012 Olympics.

15 - Number of shooting events scheduled for the 2012 Olympics in London, including rifle, pistol, and shotgun disciplines. Shooting sports—up to 21 events in some years—have been a part of the Olympics since the beginning of the modern games in 1896.

1.06 oz. - The lightest known trigger pull on guns used during the Free Pistol competitions, which set no restrictions on trigger weights.

60 mph - Speed at which a clay target exits a trap during the International Skeet events. Clays thrown during the Men’s and Women’s Trap events leave the house at a blistering 72 mph.

1984 - The first year women’s shooting events were added to the Olympics. Prior to that, women competed alongside men.

180 - Muzzle velocity in meters per second of a typical .177-caliber Olympic air rifle, which converts to about 590 fps. Compare that to most air rifles on the market today, which boast speeds of 1,200 fps or more.

Classic Olympic Shooting Events

International Trap
This isn’t your standard summer trap league. International, or Olympic, Trap utilizes 15 separate throwers placed in a trench—three in front of each of five shooting stations. At each station, the shooter is presented with one straightaway target and two each to the left and right, thrown in randomized order but at fixed angles, unlike American Trap.

Rapid Fire Pistol
One of two current shooting events that debuted at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, Rapid Fire Pistol is just what it sounds like. Competitors shoot five shots unsupported and one-handed in quick succession at targets placed 25 meters downrange. Over the course of three stages, scored bull’s-eye targets are presented for 8, 6, and 4 seconds.

Running Deer
From 1908 to 1948, Olympic shooters competed in this hunting-inspired event that sounds more like a carnival game or perhaps a precursor to today’s popular Big Buck Hunter video games. Shooters fired at moving deer silhouettes placed from 100 meters away, scoring points only by hitting within one of three concentric circles placed in the deer’s vitals.

Preferred Shotguns of the U.S. National Shooting Team:
Perazzi: 10
Krieghoff: 10
Beretta: 2

Among the rifles used in the Olympics, Anschutz dominates, though firearms from Feinwerkbau and Walther have also made appearances on the medal stand. Preferred brands packed by pistol shooters include Steyr, Morini, and Pardini.

Leathers
Olympic rifle shooters wear stiff leather and canvas clothing that provides a stable support when firing off-hand. The heavy suit also deadens the effects of the shooter’s pulse on the accuracy of the shot. Leathers are held to strict standards that limit both stiffness and thickness of the material. Rules even govern the number and placement of belt loops on a shooter’s pants.

What it Takes to Win Gold
Some winning scores from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing:
Women’s 10m Air Rifle: Katie Emmons, Czech Republic, 503.5 out of 509 (with a perfect score of 400 in qualification).
Men’s Skeet: Vincent Hancock, USA, 145 out of 150 (followed up with a 149 out of 150 in the 2010 World Championships).
Men’s 50m Prone Rifle: Artur Aivazian, Ukraine, 702.7 out of 709.

Shoot Like a Sniper: 10 Tips to Help Your Long-Range Shooting

OL Editor — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 09:23:13 -0400

It’s not often that seasoned hunters would listen to a 26-year-old tell them how to shoot better. Heck, most of us kill whitetails with guns older than that. However, Staff Sergeant George Reinas is not just a young sniper for the U.S. Air Force. For the past five years he has been instructing our flyboy snipers on how to shoot better. Here’s what you can do to shoot more like Reinas and our military’s elite.

Collect Data
“The most important aspect of being on the range is not to shoot but to collect data on the rifle. We record data with every shot, so we know what our gun will do under every condition. We will then use this DOPE (Data Of Previous Engagements) book as a reference before every shot.”

Shoot Dirty
“Snipers prefer to shoot dirty guns. In other words, we will not clean our rifles for 200 to 300 rounds. Leave that rifle dirty for the whole season!”

Squeeze on the Pause
“I like to shoot on the respiratory pause on the down breath. I take three deep breaths. Once I let all my air out on that last exhale, that 1- to 3-second pause is the money spot where I want to take my shot.”

Follow Through
“Obviously you want to have a slow, steady squeeze to the rear until your shot breaks. Certainly don’t jerk. But what many don’t realize is that follow-through is everything. Once the shot breaks, continue that squeeze to the rear and then release the trigger slowly to the front.”

Zero to a Higher Standard
“A lot of hunters settle for a gun that’s not quite zeroed. Snipers do not consider a gun zeroed until we get three consecutive rounds within a 1-inch square at 100 yards. Do not settle for less.”

Get Out of Sight
“Our primary role on the battlefield is reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. In order to do this, we have to go to the extreme with camo. We use handmade ghillie suits that incorporate natural vegetation from the environments in which we operate.”

Study the Wind
“Remember, wind is never constant. The most important wind consideration for a sniper is wind at two-thirds of the way to the target. There can be multiple wind directions and speeds between you and a target. You have to recognize these and make the right adjustments.”

Know Your Bullet
“We use 175-grain Sierra MatchKings, where the average hunter is going to use some kind of ballistic-tip ammunition. These bullets aren’t as accurate, so you need to do some testing and find the best bullet for your firearm.”

Learn From the Kick
“If you are shooting a .308, or something of comparable recoil, the kick of the gun will tell you what you are doing wrong. Every time a sniper shoots, he wants the gun to come straight back into him. The scope should fall right back on target—that means your fundamentals are perfect.”

Dial It, Or Mil It?
“There are two ways to take long shots. For quick engagements, we use a 500-yard zero and reference the reticle for the hold over or hold under. However, if I want to take a 1,000-yard shot and I have time, I’ll consult my dope and dial in my 1,000-yard range for a first-round hit.”

From the June/July 2012 issue of Outdoor Life magazine.

Photo courtesy of George Reinas

Shoot Like a Sniper: 10 Tips to Help Your Long-Range Shooting

OL Editor — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 09:23:13 -0400

Shoot Dirty
“Snipers prefer to shoot dirty guns. In other words, we will not clean our rifles for 200 to 300 rounds. Leave that rifle dirty for the whole season!”

From the June/July 2012 issue of Outdoor Life magazine.

Photo courtesy of George Reinas

10 Must-Have Shooting Skills

Alex Robinson — Mon, 07 May 2012 10:30:59 -0400

#1 - Break a True Pair
Take the rear target first and continue your swing to get out in front of the lead clay. For going-away birds, take the clay that’s more of a straightaway and then swing on the target that’s angling away.

#2 - Get Steady Off-Hand
During dry-fire practice, pick a small target to focus on, and with the rifle held low, bring it up in a smooth motion. As soon as the target comes into view with the reticle centered on it, break the trigger.

#3 - Handle Surprise Flushes
Walk the perimeter of a skeet field with your shotgun in a low ready position. Have a partner pull birds at unexpected intervals. Good footwork is key. Step toward the target as you mount your gun.

#4 - Work a Bolt Gun Faster
Take a strong grip on the forend with the lead hand, pulling the stock back into the pocket of the shoulder. This lets you keep the gun in position and your eyes on the target as you run the bolt with your trigger hand.

#5 - Tune Up Your Deer Gun
During the off-season, gremlins will loosen the screws in your guns. I just had this happen on a Savage .22/250, which rattled like a jar full of marbles when I went to take it varmint shooting. So check all the fasteners and torque them down to the proper amount (65 inch-pounds for the guard screws and 22 inch-pounds for rings and bases).

#6 - Limit on Doves faster
Patience is the key to hitting more doves. Before you start to mount and swing your gun, make sure the dove is in range. Move too early and the bird will flare.

#7 - Make a 1,000-Yard Shot
Rock-solid fundamentals and accurate equipment are critical, but for first-round hits at a “grand,” you need a ballistic calculator that incorporates environmental data like wind speed, temperature, altitude, and relative humidity. The Kestrel 4500NV ($325) does all this.

#8 - Forget Your Misses
A Zen-like mindset will help improve your shotgunning. When you miss a target, don’t rant and rave. Tell yourself what went wrong and verbalize a simple, positive correction (e.g., “Mount the gun smoothly”).

#9 - Shoot 1-Inch Groups
When shooting off a bench with a hunting rifle, it doesn’t usually pay to let the gun recoil freely. Instead, take a firm hold on the forend and grip, and seat the rifle solidly against your shoulder. Do this and watch your groups shrink.

#10 - Drop a Charging Animal
When something big, nasty, and toothy is bearing down on you, get in a kneeling position, put the crosshairs on the beast's nose, and let fly.

Bloomberg Anti-Gun Commercial To Air During Super Bowl

OL Editor — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:59:23 -0500

Keep the remote handy during Sunday's Super Bowl telecast because you'll want to mute the volume when Big Nanny himself--New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg--and Boston Mayor Thomas Merino share a couch and lecture unsuspecting football fans about the evils of firearms and, by extension, the dangers posed by the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Bloomberg and Menino filmed a 30-second gun-control commercial Tuesday in New York that will air in the Northeast, not nationally, during Sunday’s big game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots.

The commercial will show the two mayors sitting on a couch, wearing Giants and Patriots jerseys over their shirts and ties, ribbing each other about New York-Boston sports rivalries, pretending to watch the game, before declaring that one thing they agree on is the need for stricter federal gun control laws.

Both mayors are founding members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which is pushing for a stronger federal background check system on firearms purchases.

With billionaire Bloomberg footing the bill from pocket change, the group had no problem purchasing air time during TV's most watched event. According to TNS Media Intelligence, 30-second commercials during the Super Bowl on CBS are selling for between $2.5 million and $2.8 million.

The lecture-mercial is already drawing criticism from divergent sources, including Boston Herald columnist Michael Graham, whose Feb. 3 column noted a disconnect between the mayors' message and reality.

"The ad will reportedly talk about gun laws and the need for the presidential candidates to address the issue," Graham wrote. "What the ad most assuredly won’t talk about is gun violence itself. Because the last thing these two big-government grannies want you to know is that gun violence is plummeting, even as gun ownership has skyrocketed."

For more, go to:

Bloomberg Appears With Boston Mayor In Super Bowl Commercial Urging Gun Control

Mike Bloomberg, Tom Menino to Star in Anti-Gun Super Bowl Ad

During Super Bowl, for 30 Seconds, 2 Mayors Will Be on Same Side

Mayor Bloomberg Has His Own Super Bowl Ad This Year

NYC, Boston mayors in Super Bowl gun-control ad

Mayors wide of mark

Anti-Gun Protestors Target Starbucks for Upholding the Second Amendment

E-mail Submission — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:01:48 -0500

A nationwide boycott of Starbucks stores and its products will be launched on Valentine's Day to eliminate "the risk of guns in public places and ultimately to bring sane gun laws to the U.S."

This boycott is being called by the National Gun Victim's Action Council (NGAC), a network of 14 million gun victims, and is targeting Starbucks because it allows guns and assault weapons to be openly carried in its stores in 43 states, and concealed and carried in its stores in 49 states.

"Starbucks has the legal right to ban guns but despite having been petitioned by thousands, asked at a shareholder meeting, and a direct appeal made to their Board, Starbucks clings to this policy that puts millions of Americans at risk every day and encourages the spread of guns being carried in public," said NGAC CEO Elliot Fineman in a Jan. 23 press release circulated by the group.

Of course, such reasoning is sheer idiocy, said Seattle Guns Rights Examiner Dave Workman in a Jan. 23 Examiner.com column.

"Starbucks’ sin is that the coffee giant caters to everybody, including legally-armed citizens, whether they carry openly or concealed," Workman wrote. "Starbucks made it plain in 2010 when the Brady Campaign, assisted locally by Washington CeaseFire, that it abides by local state laws and does not discriminate against a certain class of customers. Starbucks has the legal right to serve any customer it pleases, including someone exercising his or her right to bear arms. Fineman evidently doesn’t grasp that."

For more, go to:

Starbucks' "Pro-Gun" Policy Prompts Gun Victims' Advocate Group to Launch Nationwide Boycott on Valentine's Day 2012

More DOJ embarrassment; more Starbucks stupidity; Oly hearings re-scheduled

Call for Boycott of Starbucks on Valentine's Day Over Gun Policy

Starbucks boycott: National Gun Victim's Council boycotts Starbucks on Feb 14

The 7 Best Long-Range Shots From Hollywood

Alex Robinson — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:23:23 -0500

Long-range shooting is usually laughable on the Silver Screen, but every now and then a director gets it right. Here's our 7 favorite Hollywood hits when it comes to rifle marksmanship.

Where Do Romney and Santorum Stand on the 2nd Amendment?

OL Editor — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:51:52 -0500

Since the 2012 Presidential campaign began the day after Barack Obama was elected in November 2008, we've avoided discussing Republican candidates' views on the Second Amendment here on the Gun Shots blog.

There were better uses of your time and this space, especially since some candidates -- Herb Cain, Michelle Bachmann, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul -- were never more than marginal hopefuls while others, such as Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry, peaked and paled even before the primaries began.

And there was also this: Whoever gets the GOP nod will be far friendlier to the Second Amendment than the incumbent liberal seeking a second term in the White House -- a second term in which he is expected pursue an anti-gun agenda that has been simmering on the backburner since 2009.

But, alas -- and finally -- the primary season did begin on Jan. 3 with the Iowa caucuses. If results there prove prognostic, the race for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination could shape up to be a contest between former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania (even though Santorum was recently trounced in the New Hampshire primary).

As the links below indicate, there is a great deal of chatter and contention regarding where Romney and Santorum stand on defending your Second Amendment rights.

One alarming note raised by the National Association for Gun Rights Executive Director, Dudley Brown, is that neither Romney or Santorum -- nor Gingrich, for that matter -- have returned a survey seeking answers to questions important to gun owners.

Among questions the survey asks is, as President, if the candidate would: Repeal the Brady Gun Owner Registration Scheme? Oppose the UN "Small Arms Treaty"? Call for a repeal of the Lautenberg Gun Ban and the Criminal Safezones Act?

"My experience shows me that candidates who refuse to return gun rights surveys and answer important Second Amendment questions are almost always hiding something. Hiding anti-gun political views," Brown said.

Demand that Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich respond to the survey by contacting their campaign offices in your state.

Meanwhile, in the coming weeks, and especially before the GOP's Aug. 27 National Convention, we will explore each Republican hopefuls' views on the Second Amendment in depth.

For more, go to:

Rick Santorum’s Anti-Gun History

Santorum Favors Gun Control Candidates

RICK SANTORUM ON SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS

Mitt Romney - The Second Amendment

Santorum says 11th-hour robo calls falsely claim he’s anti-gun

Mitt Romney on the Second Amendment

NEWT GINGRICH Defending Second Amendment Rights

Ron Paul Iowa Team Welcomes New ‘Gun Owners for Ron Paul

Mitt Romney Gets Owned on The Second Amendment

December Firearms Sales Shatter Retail Records

E-mail Submission — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:38:31 -0500

Gun sales shattered records on Black Friday and that pace continued through the holiday shopping season as more than 1.5 million instant criminal background checks for firearms purchases were conducted in December, according to the FBI.

In the six days before Christmas, gun dealers submitted nearly half-a-million names for checks on criminal records and mental health issues, with 20 percent coming on Dec. 23, according to the AP. That was the second-busiest gun-buying day in history, topped only by firearm purchases on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

“The firearms industry is one that hasn’t suffered in this economy,” Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, told CNBC. “Everyone else is hurting, but not firearms.”

With another presidential election cycle under way, Pratt said 2012 could be a replay of the last election cycle. “I think the same dynamics that we saw in 2008 will come up again.” Pratt points to the fact that gun sales increased strongly after the election of President Barack Obama in 2008, continuing throughout 2009 and into 2010. After a slight dip, sales have been picking up, notably with a record day on Black Friday, which saw the largest single day of FBI background checks.

Final tallies for all of December haven't been released, but the month's gun purchases will eclipse November. As of Dec. 28, 1,534,414 names had been sent to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, The New York Times reported in an editorial.

For the first 11 months of 2011, the FBI did a record 14.6 million checks, an increase of more than 70 percent from the 8.5 million in 2003.

Kentucky led the nation, with more than two-million background checks conducted through November; double the No. 2 gun-check state, Texas. The Bluegrass State, with a population of about 4.3 million, has been tops in background checks the past five years and has the most checks of any state since 1998 -- more than 12.6 million.

For more, go to:

Total NCIS background checks by state Nov. 1998 to Nov. 2011 (pdf)

FBI's state-by-state breakdown through November (pdf)

Firearms Sales Ring in 2012 With a Bang

Retailers surprised but pleased by record gun sales

Record gun checks, sales for Christmas

Happiness is … a warm gun for Christmas

Gun sales break records before Christmas, as FBI reports gun dealers ordered 1.5M background checks in December

FBI: Gun sales up in 2011

Guns a popular Christmas gift in Idaho

Gun sales boom in Kentucky for Christmas

December Gun Sales Break Single-Month Record

All I Want For Christmas Is A Shotgun! Record Gun Sales This Christmas

Bang! Bang! We know what you got for Christmas

Obama spurring one aspect of economy?... December gun sales set all-time record

FBI data indicates gun sales in New Mexico will reach record numbers in 2011

Lock & Load

In Smith and Wesson We Trust (and it looks like Santa does, too)

Live Hunt: Three Reasons You Should Hand Load Your Hunting Rifle

OL Editor — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:14:53 -0500

Even with a virtually unlimited variety of available factory loads, hand loading is becoming more popular than ever, and with good reason. I have been shooting hand loads almost exclusively in my hunting and match rifles for years now and I don’t know how I could ever go back. Here are three major benefits to crunching your own brass and some tips to help you get started.

Cost: Getting started can seem pretty daunting, but in the long run you will save quite a bit of money. You can pick up a reloading kit like RCBS’s rock chucker supreme kit for around $320, and that leaves dies, brass, bullets, primers, and powder for each individual cartridge. This seems like a lot, but many common factory loads are running over $30 or $40 per box. If you shoot a lot, or want to load for multiple calibers, the equipment quickly pays for itself.

Accuracy: Although the precision of modern factory ammo is improving all the time, it is almost always possible to get better accuracy out of a rifle by using customized hand loads. Rifle accuracy is subject to quite a few variables including bullet type, powder type and charge, brass and seating depth.

Because of this, factory ammunition is often lacking in its accuracy in some rifles, and it can take a small fortune finding a load that does shoot well. Reloading allows you to test different loads, bullets, and other variables relatively inexpensively. Most of my hunting rifles will only shoot about 1 to 1 ½ inch groups at 100 yards, but I have been able to work loads that narrow them down to ¾-inch groups or better.

Practice: Another benefit to reloading is simply getting more time behind the trigger. Rather than putting the 5 or 10 rounds through your rifle once a year to get sighted in for hunting season, you will be shooting much more while working up loads. In my experience, the best thing a hunter can do to improve his or her shooting is to put rounds down range. Also, I recommend getting a chronograph.

RCBS makes an affordable, self contained chrono called the Ammomaster. I use this once I find loads that I consider accurate enough. This chrono will record your shot data and give average and standard deviation velocities, among others. Not only does this allow you to use a ballistics calculator to show your trajectory, it gives you an idea of how consistent your velocities which is a big factor in accuracy at longer ranges.

Whether it’s fresh out of the box, or a cherished old hunting rifle, hand loading can bring your preparation to a whole new level. It gives a certain cool feeling of accomplishment when you harvest an animal with ammunition that you crunched out with your own hard work.

If you have any comments or questions about reloading, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

Video: Death to the Angry Birds

E-mail Submission — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:53:40 -0500

To build up a stronger online community, we've been trying here at Outdoor Life to boost our presence on Facebook. With that in mind, we bring you our first Facebook exclusive video. Click the photo, become a fan and watch this Angry Bird get smoked by a 12 gauge.

Take two cutting-edge high-speed cameras, a dozen rifles, shotguns and muzzleloaders, a truck bed of ammo, a Wal-Mart shopping spree, a 200-yard shooting range, and what do you get? The first Outdoor Life/Field & Stream high-speed video shoot.

We shot .223s, .308s, broadheads and every kind of shotgun shell imaginable at steel targets, paper targets, golf balls, tennis ball and basketballs. We shot PowerBait, glitter tubes, a sleeve of paintballs, apples, and, yes, Angry Birds.

We were the pigs. The pigs had guns. The pigs won. Sort of... As you’ll see in the video (just click the image above) the plush red Angry Bird actually held up pretty well against our volley of Black Cloud No. 2 and a home-defense slug.

This trip to the range, however, wasn’t all about shooting things we thought would look cool. No, there was some editorial intent. So for the next few weeks we’re going to show you, among other things, exactly how a compound bow works and how a muzzleloader fires in super slow motion.

We couldn’t have done any of this without the help of Vision Research. They provided two Phantom high-speed cameras, the v1610 and v711, for our three-day shoot. The $100,000 v1610 captured bullet impacts at 43,400 frames per second. (Digital video and television, for comparison, usually runs around 30 frames per second.) We captured targets exploding, muzzle flash and other fun stuff in color at 19,300 frames per second with the v711.

Now, you may be wonder why sworn enemies OL and F&S are teaming up. Well, the opportunity to use such high-end cameras was so sweet niether brand could pass it up.

Special thanks to Winchester, Federal and Winchester Ammo.

Help Us Pick The Prize for Our Next Caption Contest!

Alex Robinson — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:33:47 -0500

So Outdoor Life is part of a cool contest operated by Crown Royal, sponsor of Field & Stream’s Hook Shots show and maker of the whiskey that comes in a purple bag. The contest is called “Pass the Crown,” and it’s a variation on the Secret Santa gift exchange anyone who’s ever worked in an office is familiar with. Are you lucky enough to have never worked in an office? Then here’s how this works:

Each day from now until Dec. 15 Crown Royal is giving away a prize to a different web site to pass along to its readers. Today is Outdoor Life’s turn, but here’s the catch. Crown’s not telling us which prize they’re giving us right away. Instead, we get a clue, embroidered on one of their famous purple bags,* and we have to guess what prize the clue refers to. Based on that guess, we then get to decide whether to keep the prize in our bag or steal one of the prizes that have already been opened by a different site. Here’s a list of the prizes that have already been opened.

This is where we need your help. Do we keep our prize, or steal one from somebody else? You’ve got until 4 PM this afternoon to weigh in. Check out our clue (below), then post your best argument for keeping the prize in our bag or for stealing a specific prize from another site in the comments section here or on our Facebook post about the contest over at facebook.com/outdoorlife. If you can convince us your argument is best, we’ll go with your suggestion. If you’re not convincing enough, we’ll make the decision ourselves.

We’ll post an update here tomorrow telling you what prize was in our bag, and whether we decided to keep it or not. Keep in mind that any of the five sites who come after us can steal our gift, so don’t get too attached to whatever we end up with!

And last, of course; how will we determine which of our readers wins the prize we end up with at the end of the contest? It’ll be a caption contest, photo and date TBD. Stay tuned!

*Crown is running this contest is to get the word out about the custom-embroidered Crown bags ($9.95), and the free personalized Crown Royal bottle labels (21 and over, only) available at CrownRoyal.com. If you’ve got a Crown-lover in your family, this would make a great gift.

New Spin on Target Shooting: Hunt Geek’s Shooting Game Targets

OL Editor — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:38:55 -0500

Spice up your target shooting with Shooting Game Targets by the folks at Hunt Geek. Billiards, Darts/Cricket and Cards/Poker targets are available, by themselves or in a Combo Pack.

These colorful targets will keep everyone’s attention down range, as players score points, get cards or pocket billiards with their shots. You're gauranteed hours of shooting competitions and fun.

Targets come in packs of 12 and have an MSRP of $19.99 per pack. For a limited time, order directly from Hunt Geek and get a $5 flat rate for shipping to U.S. addresses.

Looks like a lot more fun that punching hole after hole in those standard black bulls-eye targets!

The Firearms of AMC's Hell On Wheels

OL Editor — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:11:55 -0400

AMC will be launching a new television series, "Hell On Wheels," about the life of a Civil War vet in the Old West. The show will showcase many of the guns and shooting techniques of the era.

Live Hunt: Three Reasons You Should Hand Load Your Hunting Rifle

OL Editor — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:11:14 -0400

If you have any comments or questions about reloading, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

Weatherby’s New Range Certified Rifles Guarantee Sub-MOA

OL Editor — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:24:58 -0400

Give the good people at Weatherby some credit. They not only guarantee that each of their new “Range Certified” or RC rifles— the Vanguard® Series 2 RC and Mark V® TRR RC rifles— will shoot at a sub-minute of angle (a three-shot group at .99-inch or less). Each of these rifles also comes with a factory-shot target proving that specific rifle’s sub-moa capabilities and is signed by company President Ed Weatherby himself.
Vanguard Series 2 RC (including Varmint and TRR versions) and Mark V TRR RC rifles are tested at Weatherby’s modern indoor range. The range technicians mount premium optics, then boresight and test fire each rifle to determine the most accurate load using the Oehler Research 83 Ballistic Imaging System. Afterwards, the rifle is cleaned and packed with the actual target signed by Mr. Weatherby. Each rifle sports a special RC engraved floorplate. Note: All RC rifles are guaranteed to shoot that sub-moa with either specified Weatherby factory or premium ammunition.

The RC rifle models and variations come with way, way too many custom and match-quality features to list all the goodies here. Suffice it to say, while the price tags for these impressive firearms are hefty, many hunters and target shooters will no doubt feel that it’s worth it to know exactly what their rifle can do. Right out of the box.

Top Ten Reasons You Know You’re A Terrible Shot

OL Editor — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:51:10 -0400

All right, I’m not Tom Knapp. I can’t hit EVERYTHING I shoot at. If you’ve watched my show then it’s no secret that I miss from time to time. I’m blaming it on the cameras! Someone or something has to take the blame right? But, I also know that we all miss and we like to throw blame on something other than ourselves. The wind, dust in the eye, didn’t see it in time, whatever... You can come up with a thousand reasons why. At one time or another, you’ve been a terrible shot. So let’s hear them! This one can get ugly.

Here’s mine: You know you’re a terrible shot when you manage to hit more deer with your truck than you can with your rifle.

Write your funniest ideas in the comments section for the chance to win an ASAP Survival Gear Pack and Brunton lantern (valued at $200).

Last week's Winner

Here are the top ten funniest comments, and #1 is the winner. The number one pick pretty much explains itself. Thank you everyone for your posts. Now, tell all your friends, family, neighbors and pets to get into this next one! Let's get the list up to a 100.

Top Ten Things You're Scared You Might Say To Bill Dance

10. from joekip: It’s too bad we can’t play Eli at QB again…

9. from 6phunter: Are you the same Bill Dance that paid me a hundred bucks to fish my honey hole for your film crew?

8. from Angler-Ace: Bill, are you as clumsy at home as you are in your bloopers DVD?

7. from Rodney: Bill have you ever thought about taking up hunting instead!

6. from mkorpal: So nice to meet you, Mr. Houston. I’ve been a huge fanof you and the Texas Longhorns for ages!

5. from dcernick: Hi Bill, how about you and I have a fishing contest some time? Loser buys the beer.

4. from djohns13: It’s going to take more than a Mahindra to get you out of this mess, Bill.

3. from garyfisherman: The longer the rod the better and keep your rod tip high. (that’s what she said!)

2. from wonderfulidaho: Hello sir, I was just wondering if you could teach me how to jump a log in a motorized canoe?

1. from CRash: Sorry I missed your show, Mr. Dance, but I was too busy watching “Gun it with Benny Spies”, on Friday night, 9 o’clock eastern/ 8 o’clock central.

Sniper School: Precision Long-Range Shooting Tips to Make You a Better Hunter

Alex Robinson — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 14:00:53 -0400

The world's top combat shooters teach the skills, gear and mindset you need to become a better hunter.

Sniper Shootout: Test Your Shooting Skills at a Vintage Sniper Rifle Match

Alex Robinson — Thu, 26 May 2011 11:41:47 -0400

I’ve been friends with Dave Emary for many years now. Not only is he the most talented cartridge designer on the planet he is a passionate shooter who has a soft spot in his heart for vintage military rifles.

He has pushed for several years to create a sniper competition for these old rifles and his hard work has finally paid off. Starting this year the Civilian Marksmanship Program will include an official vintage sniper match at the Eastern and Western games and at Camp Perry.

Here are some details about the match format:
The Vintage Sniper Rifle Match will feature a two-man team format, with each alternating as shooter and spotter, and firing 10 rounds at both 300 and 600 yards. Match rifles will be original or replica sniper rifles issued through the Korean War. Allowable optics will be original scopes or replicas, along with a few commercial scopes giving essentially the same optical performance.

Short, 20-second target exposures, followed by maximum 20-seconds in the pits, differentiates this match, making it both challenging and fun. Teams must plan and communicate to do well, with the spotter tracking wind conditions, giving clear and concise wind calls to the shooter.

All shooting takes place in the prone position. Slings may be used for support, or sandbags will be supplied as a rest if the team chooses to use them. Mechanical supports or rear rests may not be used.

Sounds like a hell of a lot of fun and good excuse to invest some money in an old M1 or 1903 Springfield. There are also a number of other eligible rifles from other countries you can use as well.

You can download a .pdf with the complete set of rules here

Sniper School Part 2

Alex Robinson — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:58:27 -0500

The second half of sniper school had me scaling a canyon wall and taking high-angle shots. Take the shooting tips I learned with you into the field.

Sniper School: The 1-Mile Shot

Alex Robinson — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:27:15 -0500

Before last week the farthest I had ever shot a rifle was 300 yards. I learned to shoot in a Wisconsin deer woods where shots outside of 100 yards were a rarity and I have only been hunting out West once.

So you can imagine my angst as I tried to locate a man-sized steel silhouette target 1,800 yards away through my rifle scope. It was day two of my sniper school course and I had just begun to get comfortable with the Desert Tactical .338 Lapua I had been issued. There were still plenty of flaws in my form, but given a solid rest I had a pretty easy time hitting targets out to 600 yards.

But this was different. 1,800 yards is more than a mile away. It was too far to see the target with the naked eye and even with a detailed range card I struggled to find the silver silhouette with my scope. This shot would be different than any other shot I had ever taken in my life.

Or would it? Admittedly, the instructor had already doped the scope for me after he took two shots at 1,800-yards (with the help of a spotter and a quick adjustment to the scope he center-punched the target with his second squeeze of the trigger). Theoretically all I had to do was center the crosshairs vertically, hold half a mil to the left to adjust for the wind (as suggested by my spotter) and not mess up the shot by slapping the trigger, flinching or having generally poor form.

As other shooters on the line took their turns one at a time sending rounds down range I thought about how in many shooting situations the circumstances (like wind and shooting position) are just as important as distance. For example, most people consider a 100-yard shot a piece of cake, but how about an off hand 100-yard shot at a moving target? Is a 300-yard shot in the field more impressive than a 500-yard shot from a bench at the rifle range?

Was a 1,800-yard shot from the prone position with a trained spotter in near perfect conditions that much more difficult than the quick off-hand shots I'd made on deer from a treestand swaying in the wind?

When it was my turn to shoot I went through my pre-shot checklist and settled in behind the gun. The target looked small in the crosshairs, but not impossibly small. At the bottom of my third breath I squeezed the trigger, absorbed the recoil and watched through the scope as the bullet sailed down range.

"Half a mil to the right … keep the same hold," my spotter said as a small puff of dirt exploded next to the target. He didn't sound surprised that I had missed, but I could tell that he was pulling for me so I jacked in another round.

Again I squeezed the trigger and watched for trace. "Ahhh! just missed to the right. Add a quarter mil to the left … you better shoot again before the wind changes" the spotter said sounding more optimistic.

I slid in one more round and got on the trigger. I moved the crosshairs ever so slightly to the left and squeezed.

"Hit!"

It was by far the longest shot I had ever made in my life and it could very well be the longest shot I will ever take. I don't see myself ever shooting at a game animal father than 400 yards away and there aren't many shooting ranges along the East Coast that have a 1,800 yard target.

So even though I will probably never shoot that distance again, at least now I know I can (under the right conditions).

Sniper School: Master the Trigger

Alex Robinson — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:28:34 -0500

On day one of my four-day sniper training course the instructor knelt down next to me and said "Young man, I love ya, but I'm going to beat the hell out of you if you don't stay with your trigger."

I was lying prone on the frozen ground at Sniper Country, a 50,000-acre shooter's paradise in Utah, and I had just sent a .338 Lapua round 300 yards down range into the center of an 18 by 24-inch steel plate. I was pretty pleased with the shot, but the instructor was clearly not impressed (however he didn't actually beat the hell out of me). My offense was what I did after I squeezed the trigger. Instead of hanging in there and following through, I allowed my index finger to slip out of proper position as the rifle charged into my shoulder.

With all of the sexiness Hollywood has created around long-range shooting (see Shooter, Enemy at the Gates, Sniper) it's easy to forget that one of the most important aspects of accurate shooting is also one of the most fundamental: pulling the trigger correctly. You can get away with fairly sloppy trigger form if you're simply trying to poke holes in a target at a few hundred yards, but if you're aiming for precision long-range shooting at targets out past 300 yards, the connection between you and the trigger must become sacred.

Here are some things I learned from shooting instructor Jacob Bynum about the not so simple act of pulling the trigger.

90 is the magic number
Your finger should make 90 degree angles with the rifle. This will ensure that you pull the trigger straight back and don't send the bullet veering off to the left or right. If you jack the trigger even slightly to the left or right it will send your bullet off target horizontally. The best way to make sure that you're at 90 is to look at your finger nail and make sure it is pointing perpendicular to the direction you're shooting and stays that way after the shot.

Dry fire is your friend
Dry firing is free, easy and essential to better shooting. Get behind your rifle, aim it at the target and squeeze the trigger like normal. This will allow you to truly analyze your form without having to worry about recoil. It's also a good way to get familiar with your trigger and keep you from flinching.

Don't slap it
We've all been there: there's no rock solid rest, the target is in the scope but the crosshairs are moving in small circles on and off the target. There's no time to get a better rest, it's now or never. The natural thing to do is wait until the crosshairs hover back over the target and then jump on the trigger. This will generally work for close range shots, but if you want to go deep you need to keep your trigger squeeze consistent just like if you were shooting from the bench. This is where all that practice dry firing comes in. By now you know exactly when your trigger will fire. Time your squeeze so that it will fire just as your crosshairs cover the bullseye.

Don't let it surprise you
Old wisdom says that you should squeeze the trigger until it goes off and the shot should surprise you. According to Bynum, this is what you tell a kid who just started shooting in order to keep him from flinching before the shot. A really good marksman knows exactly when his gun is going to fire and is ready for the recoil but doesn't flinch in anticipation of it.

Follow through
This is what I spent three days working on. Pulling the trigger and holding it through the shot. It's easy to let your finger jump off the trigger or hook around the trigger so your finger nail is pointing back toward you instead of perpendicular. The best advice I got on this was from Brent Wheat, a veteran police officer and freelance gun writer: Pull the trigger and mentally count to one before taking your finger off.

It sounds simple, but just like everything else in long-range shooting, it takes a lot of practice to master.

Come back to outdoorlife.com for more blogs, galleries and video from my trip to Sniper Country.