After 60 Years, Dad’s 16-Gauge, Hardware-Store, Hammer Gun is Back in the Family
My Dad, who enjoyed hunting and shooting sports all of his life, passed away on June 5, 2013 at age 95. Franklin Lee Marten was living on the farm in the same house where he was born. He was still shooting skeet and hunting doves by his grandson’s pond the year before he died. When I was a little kid, my dad had a 16-gauge Stevens hammer gun. I remember handling it, but Dad sold it to his good friend and hunting buddy, Harry Moore, in 1949 or 1950 before I was old enough to shoot it.
Master Gun Fitter Bryan Bilinski Tells You How
If you’re a right-handed shooter who stands 5-feet, 9 inches, weighs about 165 pounds, has a 33-inch sleeve length and wears a size 40 regular suit coat, you probably think you don’t need to worry much about “gun fit” or even consider ever needing a custom gun fitting.
Evil Recoil: Part 3
Evil recoil – both actual and felt – and their causes and solutions have been detailed in the previous two installments of this column. I’d like to finish off this treatise on recoil by examining some important ammunition specifics.
On Being a Bird Hunter: Killing That Which You Love, Admiring That Which You Kill
Sometimes I wonder what it’s like to be a bird.
Funny thought, I know, coming from someone who spends a lot of time shooting birds, picking up their (ideally) limp bodies, disemboweling them and ultimately eating them, seemingly without a shred of remorse as their fat – blessed natural fat – drips down her chin. From where I sit, being a bird shouldn’t seem enviable, right?
But it is.
Gun Fit and Bobwhites With Chris Batha
Does gun fit really matter? Well, I drove 1,320 miles to find the answer.
I wouldn’t make the grueling round-trip drive from Maryland to Georgia just for anyone who claimed to be a gunfitter. This guy was the real deal — by all accounts the best: Chris Batha.
High-Tech, Eco-Friendly Upland Gear Now Imported by Tweed Purveyor, Good Shot Design
In the wingshooting universe, the principles of conservation and ecology underpin habitat stewardship. Lyndall Bailye, founder of Good Shot Design tweed shooting apparel, is integrating those ideals into a line of traditional British shooting clothes and accessories made of high-tech fabrics now imported into the U.S. by her company.
What Norbert Haussmann Can Do for Zoli Shotguns
There’s good news for Zoli fans, and it goes by the name of Norbert Haussmann.
The former president of Blaser USA, 20-year Krieghoff veteran and former owner of Alamo Sporting Arms is now heading up a new joint venture with Antonio Zoli of Brescia Italy — the duo intent on boosting the presence and desirability of Zoli shotguns and rifles in America.
Do Yourself A Favor…Take A Shooting Lesson From a Pro
Ever wonder why some people appear so relaxed and natural while they’re doing something that most of us would consider difficult? How their movements are intentional, yet graceful, with a fluid consistency that make the whole process of what they’re doing look easy? I usually think of artists and athletes in this context who have made their talent their profession…you know the painters, pianists, basketball players, golfers, ice skaters, ballet dancers …and, yes, champion shooters.
Evil Recoil: Part 2
In the June installment of this column we examined the first form of recoil called actual recoil. I pointed out that all actual recoil comes from the shotshell load itself. As the shotshell load shot charge weight increases and as the velocity of the load increases, so too does the total value of the actual recoil force generated by that shotshell load. Gauge is irrelevant.
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