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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

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

Gear Test: The Best New Turkey Loads

Alex Robinson — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:28:49 -0500

We tested four of today's top loads to see which one you should be using this spring. Find the results of our shootout here.

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)

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.

Weatherby's PA-08 Slug Gun

Alex Robinson — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:59:25 -0400

Weatherby enters the slug gun market with a bang, offering the new PA-08™ Slug Gun Combo for your deer hunting and upland game needs. The PA-08 comes with two interchangeable barrels, a 24-inch rifled barrel for slugs and a 28-inch field barrel for shotshells.

The PA-08 is only offered in 12 gauge, with two models available: the Upland, which sports a walnut stock with gloss finish, and the Synthetic, which has a lightweight and durable injection-molded black synthetic stock.

The eight-groove rifled barrel has a 1-28" twist rate, with a bore diameter of .718 and groove diameter of .728. It comes with a Weaver-compatible cantilever scope mount base for big game hunters who like optics.

The 28-inch field barrel has chrome lining to withstand years of high-volume shooting. Lengthened forcing cones help reduce felt recoil, while a vented top rib dissipates heat and helps facilitate target acquisition.
There is a brass bead front sight and it also comes with three application-specific choke tubes: Improved Cylinder, Modified and Full.

The PA-08 comes with all these features while remaining reasonably priced! The MSRP is $549 for the Upland model and $499 for the Synthetic.

Sunstein on Hunting and Animal Rights

Brian Lynn — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:01:24 -0400

In the Gun Shots blog, John Haughey, and by proxy, Alan Clemons, does a great job outlining the danger Cass Sunstein, Obama's pick to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (for which he might be confirmed as early as today), poses to hunting and how/why hunting and firearm organizations oppose his nomination.

I thought I'd take it a step farther and provide you with the source material, straight from the horse's mouth, and some of the highlights from his University of Chicago White Paper (along with some of my own comments), entitled "The Rights of Animals: A Very Short Primer".

We can build on existing law to define a simple, minimal position in favor of animal rights: The law should prevent acts of cruelty to animals.

My 2 cents: This is what makes "smart" AR folks so dangerous. Unlike the "dumb" ones (PETA), the "smart" ones (think: HSUS) work the system and establish society's first step on a slippery slope. Pass one law or use ambiguous language in a bill upon which to build a future case for your position.

If the suffering of animals matters—and every reasonable person seems to think that it does—we should be greatly troubled by these limitations. The least controversial response would be to narrow the “enforcement gap,” by allowing private suits to be brought in cases of cruelty and neglect. Reforms might be adopted with the limited purpose of stopping conduct that is already against the law, so that the law actually means, in practice, what it says on paper. Here, then, we can find a slightly less minimal understanding of animal rights. On this view, representatives of animals should be able to bring private suits to ensure that anticruelty and related laws are actually enforced.

My 2 cents: So now you build the law upon the minimal position to "prevent cruelty to animals" and jump to allowing animals to bring personal lawsuits. 1. The ambiguousness of "cruelty" opens the door to all manner of regulation; what's pampering to one person is cruelty to another 2. In theory it's absurd, in practice it's been abused and has made a mockery of the Endangered Species List. "Representatives" can and do already bring suit on behalf of animals (see Andrew McKean's blog on wolf hunting and note the list of plaintiffs).

The very idea might seem absurd. But it is simpler and more conventional than it appears. Of course any animals would be represented by human beings, just like any other litigant who lacks ordinary (human) competence; for example, the interests of children are protected by prosecutors, and also by trustees and guardians in private litigation brought on children’s behalf.

My 2 cents: Might seem absurd? It is absurd. And dangerous. Power is being given to a radical group of people upon which judicial law will be written and common sense eroded. Comparing animals to children is also a favored tactic of AR people. I like Carl Cohen's rebuttal to this approach when he writes that the test for moral judgment "is not a test to be administered to humans one by one,"but should be applied to the capacity of members of the species in general."

We might ban hunting altogether, at least if its sole purpose is human recreation. (Should animals be hunted and killed simply because people enjoy hunting and killing them? The issue might be different if hunting and killing could be justified as having important functions, such as control of populations or protection of human beings against animal violence.)

My 2 cents:And there it is. Although posed as a hypothetical ("we might"), taken in context with his other statements and writings, it's obvious Sunstein is anti-hunting. To his second point, hunting isused to control game populations and protect human beings; take a look at the number of cougar attacks in California since lion hunting was banned for proof. Additionally, his use of the word "justified" is scary in that it suggests some type of judicial sanctioning and approval/proof of populations needing control and/or human protection; upon which hunters would run into judicial precedent written in favor of animal rights/protection. Of course, targeted game species would be represented in court by humans and the whole mess is tangled in the judicial system (per the wolf debate, et al), becoming costly, time consuming and ultimately unsustainable for hunters.

In his conclusion, Sunstein makes this statement:

There is no good reason to give public officials a monopoly on enforcement; that monopoly is a recipe for continued illegality.

My 2 cents: Sunstein is advocating that the government and our legal system is ill-equipped and unable to handle the enforcement of current laws and therefore private citizens should be able to file suit on behalf animals in order to keep them safe from harm. At this point I'm going to take the AR approach: put this in terms of humans. When George W. Bush brought about the Patriot Act after 9/11, one section of it caused an outcry and was removed (and rightly, so, in my opinion). That section charged and gave individuals certain powers of state and would promote spying upon neighbors/clients, promoted false allegations and a whole string of other complications. Now, Sunstein believes we should give similar powers to the public, and by proxy aggressive, radical groups, in the interest of animal rights? That's not just a recipe for the end of hunting, but a quagmire for society in general.

Cortona Legend

outdoorlife-editor — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 19:00:00 -0500

The recently arrived Cortona over/unders belong to a rather new category of gun making I call the Italian Renaissance. Along with the Caesar Guerini, the newly revamped Franchi O/U and a few others yet to set foot in the U.S., the Cortona ingeniously blends state-of-the-art metal- and wood-cutting technology with the detail and classic styling we normally associate with higher grade (read: more expensive) smoothbores—provided you don't look too closely. In other words, these guns look classy enough to make your brother-in-law jealous, yet fall into a comfortable price niche.

Made in northern Italy, the Cortona line currently includes three grades of over/unders, beginning with the Grande at $1,795 and topping out with the $2,995 Prestige. All come in 12-, 20- and 28-gauge, with the receiver size matching the gauge, a nice feature that makes for a sleeker-looking profile in the smaller gauges and, of course, a lighter weight. (The Prestige also comes in 16-gauge.)

All the Cortonas have boxlock mechanisms, but the Legend and Prestige grades have false side-plates, giving them the aristocratic air of true sidelocks plus more metal surface for embellishment. There are too many choices of gauge and stock styles to list here, but all told I count two dozen combinations in the price list.

The Cortona I tested was a 20-gauge Legend Grade with the round-knobbed Prince of Wales semi-grip stock. With so many shotguns coming out of Europe and points farther east these days, I've gotten into the habit of taking a critical look at the barrels. The Cortona's chrome-lined barrels are every bit as dimension-true and ripple-free as one could wish for, and fully equal to the quality of another famous Italian brand's more costly models. Also, the locking lug recesses show evidence of some hand fitting, as opposed to the hit-or-miss engagements found in some imports.

The Turkish walnut stock has no figure but enough color contrast for character, and the wood-to-metal fit is a testament to the precision of the above-mentioned machinery. The slightly wavy surfaces, however, suggest that improvements are needed in their sanding machinery. The oil finish appears to be hand rubbed, which the maker claims it to be.

The Schnabel tipped forearm features almost total coverage of exceptionally sharp machine-cut checkering, while the grip-panel checkering is laser-cut, with some hand work touch-ups evident here and there.

The metal ornamentation can best be described as bland, with open spaces on side-plates being populated by what appear to be lost dogs rendered by Picasso on a bad day. Italians usually do better—a simple scroll design or none at all would be preferable. Also disappointing is the unfinished look of the trigger guard and the way it terminates in a rut gouged in the stock.

Not at all disappointing, however, is the way the Cortona performs. Mechanically the gun we tested was flawless, with powerful and beautifully timed ejectors. The stock fit me about right, so hitting skeet targets with full choke screw-ins (a test of the pointability of a shotgun) seemed almost effortless.

The Cortona comes with five screw-in chokes and a good one-year warranty, and is distributed by the makers of those great Kalispel gun cases.

PROS: Well-made barrels, excellent wood-to-metal fit, and high-quality machine checkering on forearm; functions flawlessly.

CONS: Blandly engraved metalwork and roughly finished trigger guard not up to the standards of the rest of the shotgun.

FINAL WORD: Very well built, especially for the price.

THE CORTONA UP CLOSE

BUTT PLATE Wood butt plates, which give the stock a fine look, have become a signature feature on many of the new imported Italian shotguns.

TRIGGER GUARD The finish work on the trigger guard was somewhat of a disappointment, although the shotgun's mechanical functioning was superb.

FOREARM The sharp machine-cut checkering and full coverage on the Cortona's forearm is a testament to the capabilities of the newest gun-making equipment and production techniques.

SIDE-PLATES The false side-plates on the Cortona, which is actually a boxlock action, give it a sophisticated look and plenty of room for ornamentation. The engraving shows signs of hand touch-up.

BY THE NUMBERS

MANUFACTURER: Cortona MODEL: Legend TYPE: O/U shotgun CALIBER: 20-gauge CHAMBER: 3 in. WEIGHT: 6 lb. 6 oz. FINISH: Blue-Silver STOCK: Walnut BARREL LENGTH: 28 in. OVERALL LENGTH: 45½ in. TRIGGER PULL, TOP: 5 lb. 8 oz. BOTTOM: 4 lb. 6 oz. PRICE: $2,595 CONTACT: 800-398-0338; kalispelcaseline.com

Year of The Mod Shotgun

outdoorlife-editor — Wed, 31 May 2006 20:00:00 -0400

Last year wascalled "the year of the Turkish invasion" because we tested three gunsmade in Turkey, one of which, a frisky little side-by-side double, danced offwith our Editor's Choice award. This year the invasion continues, with theintroduction of a pair of Turkish-made over/unders that represent opposite endsof the price scale: one costing more than $5,000; the other, less than$500.

The big news,however, is in autoloaders, with two legendary American names going toe-to-toewith spectacular new guns. The looks and engineering of both of these shotgunsare so nontraditional that they may be regarded with disdain by thesquinty-eyed traditionalist. But we might as well get used to them becauseunder their ultra-modern exteriors is some impressive engineering that willrevolutionize the way shotguns are made and the way we shoot them.

BERETTA 3901 GAUGE: 12 GA. TRIGGER PULL: 4 LB. 13 OZ. ACTION: SEMI-AUTO

Beretta'sautoloading shotguns have one of the best-proven and most reliable gas-operatedsystems in the entire gun industry. This is one of the many reasons Beretta'sautoloaders are widely used for both hunting and the full range ofwing-shooting games.

The M3901 wetested is another addition to its line of competition shotguns, but with adifferent and worthwhile twist—it's an entry-level gun for young skeet orsporting-clays shooters that "grows" along with them. Of course thereis nothing new about guns with adjustable combs, cast and length of pull, butthe 3901 starts out with an honest small-fry stock—only 12¼-inch length ofpull—that can be lengthened a half inch at a time by inserting spacers. Thecomb can likewise be adjusted so that the young shooter has the benefits of aproperly fitting stock.

The shotgun'sgrip geometry, which has a rather horizontal profile, garnered praise from thetest team for its comfort.

FINAL SCORE: F G[VG] E

Retail: $898

Performance:***

Design: ***

Price/Value:***

800-237-3882;berettausa.com

TESTERS'COMMENTS

â¿ª Functionedreliably with all ammo tried

â¿ª A gun a youngshooter can grow into

â¿ª Trigger pullsmooth and light

â¿ª Bolt-releasebutton was a bit hard to push

KIMBER MARIASO/U GAUGE: 20 GA. TRIGGER PULL: 5 LB. 15.5 OZ. ACTION: OVER/UNDER

Like the elegantlittle side-by-side double bearing the Kimber name that won last year'sEditor's Choice award, this Turkish-made over/under features gorgeous wood,rich case coloring on the receiver and quick-detachable sidelocks that areprettier on the inside than on the outside.

The chrome-linedbores add value, and the team was impressed by the innovative screw-in choketubes that fit flush with the muzzle without the usual wrench notches.

The gun was sucha joy on the skeet field, and pointed so well in our hands, that two cases of20-gauge shells quickly disappeared. Since classic styling and high-grade woodare hallmarks of Kimber guns, they invite themselves to be judged on this basisand our sample lost points on the only so-so engraving and rather carelesscheckering, which should have been better for a gun with a price tag of morethan $5,000.

The lack of aselective trigger also disappointed our test shooters, as did occasionalmisfires with a variety of ammunition.

FINAL SCORE: F G[VG] E

Retail:$5,799

Performance:***

Design: ****

Price/Value:*

800-880-2418;kimberamerica.com

TESTERS'COMMENTS

â¿ª Lovely wood

â¿ª Trigger pullwas a bit too heavy for a light gun

â¿ª Felt recoilseems too hard

â¿ª Points well butlost points on price/value

MOSSBERG SILVERRESERVE O/U GAUGE: 12 GA. TRIGGER PULL: 6 LB. 5.5 OZ. ACTION: OVER/UNDER

The Turkishinvasion continues, with Mossberg now importing a modestly priced over/underthat, like most of the other Turkish-made shotguns we've tested, is solid andfunctional.

This is about allyou could ask for in an O/U with a street price in the $500 range, but theSilver Reserve we tested was also pretty nice looking, with some engravingenhanced by gold overlays and a hand-checkered walnut stock.

Best of allthough, it proved to be a real shooter, causing our shotgun team to suggestthat the gun would be a better bargain even at a somewhat higher price if ithad autoselect ejectors rather than a simple shell lifter. This feature wouldgo nicely with its existing barrel selector.

On the skeetfield the Mossberg performed well, with one tester noting that its muzzle-heavyprofile made it very easy to swing. About the only complaint anyone had wasregarding the sticky barrel selector, which required excessive effort tomove.

FINAL SCORE: F G[VG] E

Retail: $634

Performance:***

Design: **

Price/Value:***

203-230-5300;mossberg.com

TESTERS'COMMENTS

â¿ª Functionedbeautifully

â¿ª Screw-in chokesnice touch for price

â¿ª Wish it hadauto ejectors

â¿ª A greatover/under for the money

REMINGTONCTI-105 GAUGE: 12 GA. TRIGGER PULL: 5 LB. 6.5 OZ. ACTION: SEMI-AUTO

When Remingtonintroduces a wholly new autoloading shotgun the shooting world takes notice.Its M1100 was a milestone in autoloading development, as was the earlier M48series. You might wonder how the immensely popular M1100 could be improved on,but when you see, handle and shoot the CTi (the chemical symbols for carbon andtitanium, which play big roles in the gun's construction and lightness), yourealize that Remington has taken a bold step into a brave new world of firearmsengineering.

So what'sdifferent? In a word—everything: from the distinctive carbon-fiber shell overthe receiver and carbon-fiber vent rib to the bottom loading and ejection,recoil-reduction system, smooth "roller-bearing" sear release and racystyling. This is also the first shotgun made with a titanium receiver. There isno loading/ejection port on the receiver side. Instead, you push a shell intothe magazine via the bottom port, from where it is instantly cycled into thechamber. The system takes some getting used to, as the suddenness of theoperation makes it feel like you're putting your fingers in a mousetrap, but itworks.

FINAL SCORE: F G[VG] E

Retail:$1,332

Performance:***

Design: ***

Price/Value:***

800-243-9700;remington.com

TESTERS'COMMENTS

â¿ª Recoil is verymild

â¿ª Would beexcellent for hunting and sporting clays

â¿ª Bottom ejectionworks great

â¿ª Pointsquick

â¿ª Liked the looksa lot

OUTDOOR LIFEEditor's Choice 2006

WINCHESTER SUPERX3 GAUGE: 12 GA. TRIGGER PULL: 6 LB. 8 OZ. ACTION: SEMI-AUTO

A few months backI wrote a column about Winchester's mostly failed efforts to make and market atruly successful autoloading shotgun. For the most part, my commentary wasgloomy but I ended the piece more or less upbeat: "My guess is thatWinchester's quest for a great shotgun for the 21st century is justbeginning."

The Europeanmakers of Winchesters surely hooted and poked each other in the ribs when theyread this because they were only weeks away from unveiling an all-newautoloader—the Super X3—destined to become OUTDOOR LIFE'S Editor's Choiceshotgun for 2006! Wow, talk about a turnaround in the fortunes of Winchestershotguns, and with the pall cast by the recent closing of Winchester's NewHaven plant, it couldn't have come at a better time.

The SX3 is verymuch the latest European style. The traditional checkering has been replacedwith laser-cut grooves that form geometric swirls. And the bright red letteringon the grayed receiver might be off-putting for traditionalists (like me) whopine for the Winchester of bygone days.

But when you snapit to your shoulder you feel a gun that wants to shoot. And this one reallydoes.

FINAL SCORE: F G[VG] E

Retail: $979

Performance:****

Design: ***

Price/Value:***

800-333-3288;winchesterguns.com

TESTERS'COMMENTS

â¿ª Pointed andshot well

â¿ª I liked thisgun

â¿ª Felt great toshoulder and shoot

â¿ª Nice recoilpad

â¿ª The best testedthis year

OUTDOOR LIFEGREAT BUY 2006

REMINGTON SPR453 GAUGE: 12 GA. TRIGGER PULL: 5 LB. 4 OZ. ACTION: SEMI-AUTO

Beauty is asbeauty does, it's been said, and in the hands of our shotgun test team thisno-frills autoloader from Russia took wing and became this year's Great Buyaward winner. Last year we tested one of the first of Remington's"Spartan" imports, a plain but solid over/under that earned good marks.Remington now imports these guns under the classier-sounding ISP (InternationalSporting Products) global group.

To win thishonor, a gun must not only represent a fair dollar value but also deliverperformance beyond what one would expect from a product in its price category.Or, as one of our test shooters astutely observed, "When it comes to value,performance trumps appearance every time." Not just a warmed-over design,the SPR 453 has an up-to-date tunable gas system to operate 2¾-inch to 3½-inch12-gauge shotshells. Our sample came adjusted for heavy loads, which causedsome ejection failures with the light target loads we used on the skeet field.This could have been corrected by simply resetting the gas system, but the gunswung so smoothly, we didn't want to stop shooting.

FINAL SCORE: F G[VG] E

Retail: $405

Performance:***

Design: **

Price/Value:****

800-243-9700;remington.com

TESTERS'COMMENTS

â¿ª Shot andpointed very well

â¿ª An affordablegood start for a new hunter

â¿ª I shot this gunthe best of all

â¿ª Plain to lookat but lovely in the hands

THE RATINGS Excellent: **** Very Good: *** Good: ** Fair: *

Essentials

outdoorlife-editor — Wed, 31 May 2006 20:00:00 -0400

ULTIMATE EARS SUPER—FI 5PRO

Looking for the best way to zone out on that long flight to Africa or Argentina? These top-notch earphones from Ultimate Ears offer five sizes of silicone tips for a custom fit that totally blocks out background noise and delivers a level of sound quality that is nothing short of phenomenal. ($250; 800-589-6531; ultimateears.com)

CANON 10X42 L IS WP

They say you can't have it all, but with this binocular you'll come close. Canon has put its image-stabilizing technology in a waterproof binocular that uses super-clear low-dispersion lenses to reduce color aberrations. While it's a bit heavy for all-day carry, it makes a great marine or truck binocular. ($1,400; 800-652-2666; canonusa.com)

CAPE-SHOK WITH BARNES TSX

One of Federal's new offerings for 2006 is the potent Barnes Triple-Shock X-Bullet in big-bore calibers. Federal is chambering these bullets in .375 H&H, .416 Rem., .416 Rigby and .458 Win. Mag. (From $68; 800-322-2342; federalpremium.com)

STORMY KROMER MACKINAW

The tightly woven fibers of this wool coat help shed water, keep out the wind and hold in scads of body warmth. For truly frigid conditions you can zip in an all-wool vest, or wear the vest solo in milder weather. It's traditional and versatile. ($270; 888-455-2253; stormykromer.com)

BERETTA SILVER PIGEON V 28-GAUGE

The Silver Pigeon line of shotguns gets a new look this year with the introduction of a straight, English-style stock. Weighing 6.8 pounds, this trim shotgun is built on a receiver appropriately scaled for its 28-gauge chamber. Custom-fitted stocks with individually tailored measurements are also available for an extra fee. ($3,495; 800-636-3420; berettausa.com)

Grouse Guns How hunting preferences have changed over 20 years

outdoorlife-editor — Thu, 31 Jul 2003 20:00:00 -0400

What's the perfect shotgun for ruffed grouse? Don't bother to look. There isn't any one such gun, mainly because the shooting tastes of grouse hunters and the terrain over which they pursue their quarry varies from region to region. At least 56 manufacturers make "grouse guns," representing four different gauges (12-, 16-, 20- and 28-) and all the typical barrel configurations (autoloaders, side-by-sides, over/unders and pumps). I know this because I took a close look at recent field-notebook entries of more than 300 grouse hunters, reported last year to the "Loyal Order of Dedicated Grouse Hunters" newsletter (E-mail: GrouseTales@msn.com).

I figured that this hard-core group of dedicated hunters from 17 states and three Canadian provinces would have the most valid opinions regarding what the best grouse gun is. In addition to the number of hours hunted, dog points, birds flushed, birds shot and other hunting details, each hunter had reported the brand and specifications of the gun he carried. After I had put all the gun data together in a spreadsheet, I came up with an astonishing 120 combinations of gauge, barrel type and manufacturer.

Ruffed grouse hunters concede that their particular sport is probably the most demanding of all wing-shooting endeavors, but few of them can agree on which guns are best suited for it. In order to escape this quagmire of diversity, I tried charting the reports just from those hunters who favored the top 10 gun combinations. This brought some clarity to the subject.

I had also done this same analysis 20 years ago for the season ending in 1982. Personal computers had just become available a few months earlier that year--I didn't have one, so I crunched the numbers with paper, pencil and an adding machine. I condensed all the past and present survey results into two lists (see charts). The comparisons are interesting.

Numbers Don't Lie

Between 1982 and 2002, there were several significant changes in grouse gun preferences. Here's an example: In 1982, a majority (53 percent) of hunters surveyed said that they preferred the autoloading shotgun, but 20 years later, only 14 percent of respondents were using them. What's going on here--sheer dedication to the pursuit of perfection? Yes, I think so. The typical grouse hunter owns and feeds a bird dog, focuses on grouse hunting to the exclusion of all other game (except maybe woodcocks) and is willing to sweat for hours amid briers and tangled grapevines to bag an average of only a half-dozen grouse per season. He wants a gun that works under conditions that can be surprisingly demanding. Consequently, the grouse gun has continued to evolve from an original all-purpose, all-game "hunting device" into a highly specialized sporting instrument.

In 1982, the most popular gun was the 20-gauge autoloader Remington Model 1100. It was just under one percentage point ahead of the 20-gauge Browning Citori over/under. In 2002, the 20-gauge Browning Citori over/under led the pack with a 16.1 percent following, trailed closely by the 12-gauge Citori (15.3 percent). Is the Browning over/under the perfect shotgun for grouse? Well, if you could get all the listed Citori owners to quit arguing about whether the 20-gauge is better than the 12-gauge, the gun could stake a claim to the title. Certainly, at 611/44 pounds the Citori Superlight Feather 12-gauge is an easy carry, sweetly balanced and quick to the shoulder. But the Brownings are closely shadowed by the 20-gauge Ruger Red Label over/under.

Twenty years ago there were no Ruger shotguns of any kind on the Top 10 list, although the 20-gauge Red Label has been available to upland hunters since 1977. This suggests that while the Red Label was slow to catch on in grouse-hunting circles, it became a solid favorite once it did.

Regardless of brand, we can begin to consider today's perfect grouse gun as being an over/under, with another two-barreled gun, the 20-gauge Ithaca-SKB side-by-side, coming in fourth on the list with 10.5 percent support. Interesting, considering that the gun has not been produced since the early 80s. Presumably nobody is talking about the pricey Ithaca Classic Doubles, which were being manufactured by another company with Ithaca's blessing. That arrangement fell by the wayside last spring, however, and it's rumored that Ithaca will offer its own double guns again beginning in 2004. Stand by for news of that.

Other notable changes in the grouse gun list after 20 years include a significant increase in the popularity of Beretta over/under models (No. 411, etc.); they jumped from sharing last place in 1982 to fifth and sixth places in 2002. The Franchi autoloader holds a position on both lists, but in two different gauges (first in 12-gauge, now in 20-gauge), and the 20-gauge Benelli Black Eagle is now a contender. The 12-gauge over/under Winchester Models 101 and 1001 shared last place with Beretta at the bottom of the 1982 Top 10 list. In 2002, it's the Parker side-by-side 20-gauge and Remington 20-gauge pump. Almost the only rating difference in the bottom ranks is due to alphabetical order.

Gauging the Changes

One thing that hasn't changed over two decades has been the popularity of the 20-gauge. It's at the top, which says something about the timeless appreciation for a gauge that gets the job done without entailing the need to lug around a heavy gun. The ruffed grouse is a rather soft-feathered bird (compared to waterfowl, for example) and most shots are taken within 30 yards, making the usual 20-gauge load of 7/8 ounce more than sufficient. Another factor is versatility; this gauge can pack a greater punch in 3-inch loads when the need arises.

The real loser over two decades has been the 12-gauge, which has made room for the 16-gauge and the 28-gauge. Again, we're seeing that less weight and faster handling properties are de rigueur in this new era of grouse hunting. This is especially true with the 28-gauge, for which the ninefold increase in popularity to 10.8 percent is absolutely astounding. A few of the 28-gauge guns in the 2002 survey were autoloaders, but most were two-burner guns from 14 different manufacturers. The most popular 28-gauge side-by-sides were made by AyA and the over/unders by Ruger.

Why is gun selection so important to your enjoyment of this wing shooting sport? Consider the challenges that the ruffed grouse throws our way. Its flush has been described with every possible verb that conveys the bird's sudden release of energy. Ruffed grouse "warp-factor" into flight with such furious energy and are able to disappear from sight so quickly that the mind reels in protest. A grouse! Bang! The hunter is left gasping and blinking while, somewhere up ahead, a vortex of spinning autumn leaves unwinds and settles to the ground. Often the hunter shoots twice--Bang! Bang!--using the first attempt only to set the stage for serious business, much like a speaker who clears his throat before stepping to the podium.

More Barrels, Please

Between 1982 and 2002, the use of autoloaders among surveyed grouse hunters dropped by a third (from 31.3 percent to 20.6 percent). Why? Presumably because hunters have bought in to the classic image of a grouse hunter moving through the reds and golds of an upland fall with a double-barrel or over/under in hand. The pump shotgun isn't faring well, either, descending in popularity from 13.7 percent to 4.8 percent.

The changes for the over/under and side-by-side models from 1982 to 2002 are almost exactly equal. They've marched in lockstep from about 27 percent in 1982 to about 37 percent in 2002, demonstrating the typical grouse hunter's indecision regarding the right gun to choose.

Imagine lying awake and trying to decide whether the barrels of your next gun should be beside each other, or one over the other. Truly, life can be tough for a grouse hunter.

Top 10 Grouse Shotguns

1982 TOP 10 GROUSE SHOTGUNS

Manufacturer Action/Barrel Gauge Preference Type Percentage*

Remington Autoloader 20 15.3 Browning Over/under 20 14.5 Remington Pump 12 11.5 Browning Autoloader 12 10.7 Remington Autoloader 12 9.9 Franchi Autoloader 12 8.4 Winchester Autoloader 12 8.4 Ithaca Side-by-side 20 7.6 Beretta Over/under 20 6.9 Winchester Over/under 20 6.9

2002 TOP 10 GROUSE SHOTGUNS

Manufacturer Action/Barrel Gauge Preference Type Percentage

Browning Over/under 20 16.1 Browning Over/under 12 15.3 Ruger Over/under 20 12.1 Ithaca Side-by-side 20 10.5 Beretta Over/under 20 9.7 Beretta Over/under 12 9.7 Franchi Autoloader 20 7.3 Benelli Autoloader 20 6.5 Parker Side-by-side 20 6.5 Remington Pump 20 6.0

*From data reported to Loyal Order of Dedicated Grouse Hunters by more than 300 hunters.

Changes in Preferences

Double guns have replaced autoloaders in popularity, as noted by survey results below. The 20-gauge is still the top choice, while the 12-gauge has lost ground.

BY ACTION TYPE/BARREL

Preference Preference Percentage* 1982 Percentage* 2002

Side-by-side 27.9 37.6 Over/under 27.1 37 Autoloader 31.3 20.6 Pump 13.7 4.8

BY GAUGE

20 50.2 50.8 12 41.4 27.4 16 7.2 11 28 1.2 10.8

*As reported to Loyal Order of Dedicated Grouse Hunters by more than 300 hunters.