“Tag: View From the Ridgetop”

No surprise—the AR platform is the most popular rifle in the United States today. Its chamberings cover the gamut from .22 to .50 caliber. Eugene Stoner’s brainchild of 1957 supports an entire cottage industry of aftermarket accessories that range from cheap to opulent.

Many of us feel that gun control began as a 20th century issue. However, I attended a lecture today at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo. that put forth a different perspective.

Do something for most of your life and it’s easy to let the notion take hold that you’ve seen and done it all. Of course, that’s virtually always a false notion. “Old dogs and new tricks” aside, this old dog has learned an old trick. Case annealing can not only increase your case life, it can help you achieve your best accuracy.

I sat down to my reloading bench this morning to put together some .45 Colt ammo for my new Ruger Flattop. It got me to thinking: The .45 Colt just might be the best—or at least the most versatile—handgun cartridge of all time. Of course, that only holds true if you consider the role of a handgun in its traditional sense—a reactive tool for stopping threatening or edible creatures at close range.

I see that my birth state—California—has not relinquished its stranglehold on the notion that the only proper way to manage its wildlife is through emotion. California has become the laughingstock of the nation for its polices, ranging from cultural to fiscal to wildlife management, and continues down that road with absolutely no remorse.

If you have been reading this sonorous blog for any time you know how I enjoy shooting black powder cartridges in our local cowboy action matches.

I just received one of those e-mails you hate to get. Brandon Forrest Eggleston, the only son of Alisa Moody—who used to be one of my graphic designers at the NRA and now manages my website—was killed last night in Afghanistan by an IED.

Recently I was reminded that I am a dinosaur. We had one of our little 3-gun shoots at our local gun club. Aside from the fact that I was the oldest guy there—by a big margin—I noticed that I was the only one there with a leather holster.

I was at the range the other day working with some new handloads. Normally, I have the place all to myself during weekdays but not this day. There was a young man there wringing out his rifle. He was, shall we say, rather proud of the fact that his rifle was guaranteed to be sub-minute-of-angle (moa). Unfortunately, on this particular day, his rifle was printing groups of about 1 1/4 inches—not bad, but not sub-moa. He was crestfallen.