While I wasn’t present at the moment of design inception, it is my impression that the original intent of a full length stock was to protect a gun’s barrel when pressed into service within a harsh environment… like war, as exemplified by any number of pre-Vietnam era design military firearms. […]

I know, pretty spiffy motto for the post office, but actually a paraphrase of Herodotus describing the Persian method of swift message delivery circa 480 BC. Herodotus wrote, “It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that […]

It got to thinking, while I was making some heavily seasoned mushroom spaghetti sauce, that I was a lousy shot with a revolver, but getting near GI Joe proficient with an autoloader. About the time the garlic in the bottom of the pot caught fire, I realized almost all of […]

My first centerfire rifle was a Marlin Model 336 in .30-30 WCF, a gun that is still in active use today. But the Marlin I own that gets the most use is a Model 1895 Guide Gun. Chambered for the .45-70 Gov’t., it is used for hunting, recreational target shooting […]

The GP100 is a classic representation of a revolver. A sturdy, accurate and reliable shooter, it comes straight from the factory ready to defend, punch holes in paper targets or hunt. Since I purchased one, I find myself shooting much more frequently. With a few hundred rounds of wad cutters […]

My wife tells me I need to get out and shop more. She feels such a brush with reality might get me beyond my 1970’s “cost of things” frame of reference. In Joe Land, I can still buy a luxury car for $5,000, a house for $50,000 and a good […]

Early yesterday evening, just about dusk, my wife motioned me over to the sliding doors that lead out to the porch to show me the buck that was feeding in the back yard. Big animal, eight points. She loves all of the wild life that cruises through the yard and […]

Public discussion of handloading is…interesting. You’d think it would be rife with converging, diverging and conflicting theory, but mostly its a battle of platitudes. And platitudes are like their second cousins, the platypus. Sure they have their fancy fur, a little non-quacking bill, spiffy web feet and egg laid progeny […]

If Brownells were a retail chain with a neighborhood presence, odds are it would be a great place to hang out. I’d be hard pressed to think of another  company of its size that has managed to maintain such a friendly presence, or retain a full staff of knowledgeable people […]

After months of carrying and shooting the Kevlar stocked CZ 550 American Safari Magnum, I’ve come to the conclusion I like this gun, a lot, or I wouldn’t still be carrying and shooting it after all this time. I can usually go from excitement over a new gun to boredom […]