"Turkeys" - Coming This Spring to ABC

I’m going to try Maine turkey hunting this Spring. I like guns, I like hunting and I pretty much like the taste of turkey, so it seems like an appropriate thing to do. I’m just not sure if I have a good handle on turkey hunting procedures and code of […] [Read More]

When Longevity Trumps New...gevity Part III Tequila with a Cold Dos Equis Chaser

Sometimes it is tough for me to write a piece that doesn’t put me to sleep mid sentence. So when you doze while reading some of my stuff, I can empathize, I’ve been there myself. So take a short nap beforehand, and try to get through what follows, because the Taurus […] [Read More]

When Longevity Trumps New...gevity Part II A Trip to the Range and a Handloading Plan

Establishing a baseline… Before embarking on a handload development project with an unfamiliar firearm and cartridge combination, I record the gun’s performance with factory ammunition. The gathered data aids in setting reasonable expectations for handload velocity and the range time gives me a sense of the combination’s accuracy, muzzle blast […] [Read More]

When Longevity Trumps New...gevity Part I A Case for the 44 Magnum

I always wanted to handload for a 44 RemingtonMagnum double action revolver, but I didn’t want to cope with the excessive recoil, muzzle blast and noise associated with “The world’s most powerful handgun”. So I waited until a new “Most powerful” cartridge was crowned and gun writers predictably, descriptively, diminished […] [Read More]

Whose Buying Guns? Don't Call the Houston Police!

For those who are not aware, beside the web site and the my nonsense, Real Guns is also a firearms retail business located in Raymond, ME. The retail business is professionally managed by Cindy Kimball, the more pleasant and knowledgeable side of a partnership. I’m perfectly content writing, tinkering and […] [Read More]

The 375 Ruger Story - All Guns & No Ammo Part I Ruger's Model 77 Hawkeye African

Ruger firearms are not pretentious. The typically applied adjectives: “sturdy”, “reliable”, and “adaptive” are hardly superlatives expressing aesthetic excellence, but they do describe great value. The truth of the matter is, whenever I’ve purchased a new Ruger, I’ve put it to work as though I would a new hammer or […] [Read More]

7mm-30 RG

Warning: Bullet selections are specific, and loads are not valid with substitutions of different bullets of the same weight. Variations in bullet material and length will alter net case capacity,  pressure and velocity results. Primer selection is specific and primer types are not interchangeable. These data represents maximum loads in […] [Read More]

Maine, Barnes Bullets and the Dixie Chicks

We’re headed home to Maine. I think Diane is a little homesick and I’m looking forward to spending time in the shop. I have a backlog of projects and a snow blower on the tractor I have yet to use. The NY Giants just won the Super Bowl so I […] [Read More]

President John Ritter

In a truly terrible 1979 movie “Americathon”, John Ritter plays President Chet Roosevelt, the hapless, hopeless and incompetent President of the United States. In broad strokes, energy resources had been mismanaged into exhaustion, America had gone bankrupt and the President had hired someone to create a telethon to save the country. […] [Read More]

Howa 'bout a 7mm WSM? Part II Shooting Impressions and Handloading Notes

With the shop in Maine, and me on the road, I found myself working with equipment that is out of the norm. It’s all good equipment, just different equipment, but for a guy who knows every tool he owns on a first name basis, adjustments were necessary. I would normally […] [Read More]