The weather has been miserable. This morning, when I put out the chronograph, the wind chill factor was -25°F, which meant swapping in warm batteries every fifteen minutes or so…both for me and the chronograph. Snow plowing was required to clear a path to targets and the wind was blowing […]

Imagine a fighter plane designed in 1944¹ that could still hold the top speed record in 2009. That is pretty much the story with the .257 Weatherby Magnum. Considering all of the cartridges that have faded over the years, their performance eclipsed by something newer, it is extraordinary that the […]

It seems like everyone I served with in the military was a Southerner. They taught me most of what I know about hunting and fishing and, in exchange, I’d like to think I taught them something about the game of poker. Broke most of the time and struggling to support […]

Elegant designs hold a high degree of aesthetic appeal. Two designs that immediately come to mind are the 612 Scaglietti Ferrari and Monica Bellucci. But all things in life are not Italian. When it comes to production rifles, for me, it is the CZ 550 FS square bridge Mauser. Czechoslovakian […]

Forty years ago, after returning from an Air Force Arc Light rotation, I picked up my wife and month old number one son at the airport. He was a project we started before I left but, unfortunately, I wasn’t around for the work in process or his completion. It was […]

With high interest, and lack of ammo or cases, it is often necessary to make your own cases for some of the oldies. A good example is the Winchester family of self loading rifles that came out about a hundred years ago. None of the ammo or rifles are produced […]

Living in rural Maine, I often find myself in unfamiliar surroundings for a variety of reasons; hunting, fishing and recreational hiking are several that come to mind. There’s a lot of brush, dense tree growth and the topography consists mostly of one mountain beginning where another ends. It’s pretty easy […]

I’ve been too busy at work to replace a column on the front porch of the house. My grown children can’t understand why I fix things myself, always suggesting it would be easier to hire someone to do the work. A new column cost $117 and it would take two […]

The hold ups on accuracy testing of the 6mm Creedmoor and Ruger American Rifle Predator were three fold: awaiting for the arrival of a 0.268″ neck bushing for the Hornady Match die set, taking the time to make an overall length gauge modified case for the 6mm Creedmoor and a […]

You can spend hours shooting at the range. You can study ballistics tables. You can buy the latest electronic gear, but the most important skill is difficult to practice until your proficiency is critical. Your blood trailing skills can mean the difference between a trophy on the wall and an […]