Free Republic

We all love shooting handguns, but there are some that just don't know how to hold a small handgun. A video from EatalltheBirds addresses the problems, here's an excerpt from it: The video starts out showing you what can happen if your hand is in front of a revolver cylinder and frame gap. Hot gases and even shaved bullet material can cause quite an injury. A piece of paper and a hot dog are stand ins for fingers in this gun safety test. For semi-automatic pistols, the slide moves rapidly to the rear. If a thumb is in the way,...

A Petaluma fisherman got a big bite, but didn't expect the fish he reeled in to bite back. Juan Gallo caught a pacu fish at the Lucchesi Park pond in Petaluma over the weekend. But as he lifted the fish from the water, its teeth cut the line. A pacu is a freshwater fish typically found in the Amazon River and a relative of the piranha. While the fish is sold at U.S. pet shops, they’re illegal in California. Gallo managed to keep a hold of the fish, and plans to turn it over to the California Department of Fish...

When we think of the leaders among quality gun makers of the British Isles we tend to think of names like Purdey and Holland and Holland, but these men have been dead for over a hundred years. Only their firms survive. For innovative leadership we must look to individuals in the trade today, and certainly no one has been a more innovative gunmaker than Giles Whittome. Giles is famous for his giant 2-gauge single-shot rifles. His 26-pound, 2-bore rifles are the largest and most powerful sporting rifles ever made. They are capable of shooting a half pound of lead backed...

Here's your Hump day video, in this bloody, noisy video, a hunter records footage of a crowd of hogs feeding on bait placed literally at the base of his ladder stand. After a while, he flings a spear with a GoPro camera attached. The spear hits a hog, which falls over as it should. But then it begins the bawling, slow-dying thrash-fest that most hog hunters have witnessed before. See the full video here.

Excerpt from first post So now that the primaries are essentially over, it's a great time to make bold predictions and hot takes about how the general election will turn out. EC results, vice presidential picks, indictments, whatever predictions you have go here. If you're good, you can achieve everlasting 2p2 glory much like Dvaut and his incredible Trump prediction. Or like that time goofball beat Nate Silver. You can make your own map at http://www.270towin.com/. I made one based only on the latest RCP polling results, and, boy howdy it does not look good for Republicans. I **** you...

The American Shooting Journal sat down with Tony Hook, owner and founder of New Hampshire’s RTD Manufacturing, who shared how he went from fixing cars for a living to manufacturing guns, as well as the trials and tribulations of what it takes to start, own and operate such a company, one that prides itself on extremely low tolerances. American Shooting Journal: How did RTD Arms get started? Tony Hook: It was started due to a question my 14-year-old stepson Robby asked. I had just purchased a brand-new AR-15 made by one of the more recognizable manufacturers. I brought it home...

Fourteen-year-old Lance Thompson of Carlisle, Pa., has spent the last several years of his life with one goal in mind – competing in the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo. As an Olympic trapshooting hopeful and honor student, Thompson maintains an intense, disciplined schedule that includes shooting up to four days a week during the school year and living full time at a training center during the summer. This arrangement allows him to train every day when school’s out. While living at the training center he stays with one of the team members, a 25-year-old female shooter, in an efficiency...

Handguns are almost always inferior to rifles in terms of accuracy and stopping power. Since defensive fighting usually happens up close, those qualities are important, but casual carrying of long guns is not socially acceptable in much of the world. The solution is to use the most powerful handgun that’s still practical for unsupported firing. Guncrafter Industries Model No. 4 Hunting pistol attempts to create exactly that kind of weapon by combining 6 inches of barrel with a .50-caliber bore, the largest legally possible without National Firearms Act paperwork. That way, the projectile already has an impressive frontal area, 23...

Black Powder - Invention to ExplosionIt is believed that the Chinese have been using black powder for about a thousand years and they are generally credited with its invention starting with fireworks. Around 700 years ago someone came up with the idea that if you put some black powder in a tube with a rock it would expel the rock out at sufficient velocity to make it a weapon. Another early idea was to use reinforced bamboo to shoot arrows and darts. No one knows who thought of this, but they did indeed change the world. The general consensus is...

I’m a big fan of coyotes. I enjoy seeing them, hearing them and hunting them. I think the reason I like them so much is that I’ve always had a lot of respect for a underdog, which the coyote surely is compared to its more media divisive cousin the wolf, or other charismatic megafauna like the bear. Similar to Rodney Dangerfield, coyotes “don’t get no respect.” Unlike wolves there are no national groups crying for their protection, no one is pleading their case on the steps of the capital. In spite of this, coyotes are without a doubt one of...

For those that hunt or into survival. This may be one of the easiest way to start a fire that I came across. The guy from Stephenson Prepper uses cotton ball, petrolium jelly and a flint with a scraper. See the fire starter video here. So what other easy ways do you all use to start a fire for survival?

There are many ways to find true north if you get disoriented while hiking. Though it may sound easy to walk in a straight line, it’s actually simple to get off-course. There are many ways to getting back on track, that is back to true north. Here are some simple methods: First method is to get a needle and cork, or something to make the needle float. Once placed in the water, the needle will turn and point to true north. See the rest of the methods for finding true north here. How about you all, what other ways have...

Drew Hamilton was filming bears in Alaska's McNeil River when he got a companion. A brown bear sits next to him while taking in the sites of where all bears were gathering to catch salmon. See the video here. Anybody have bears come this close?

Here's a story from one of the angler's on his experience shooting water moccasins with the .410 load. While out fishing with his brother-in-law, snakes were everywhere swimming right up to within a few feet of us to check us out, heads above the water the entire time and not even remotely afraid. Given that I live about 100 yards from the pond, and I'm not a fan of water moccasins (which I'm pretty sure is what these were, because most harmless water snakes swim with their heads down and shy away from disturbances), I ran back to the house...

All Air Rifles are not created equal. If you’re not familiar with air rifles than take a look at what Ted HoldOver has done from his bathroom. Ted uses a .25 caliber air rifle, and it has the power and precision to make a lasting impression. Watch and see what great precision and power the new air rifles have to offer and their impacts on pests all caught in slow motion. You certainly will be impressed, watch it here.

Captain America has to be the all time favorite super hero, as he fights the bad guys with his famous round shield. We are also, fascinated with bulletproof objects like the Captain America shield. Gun retailers Miculek.com took this thought a step further and actually tested a Captain America shield weighing 12 pounds. Miculek did make a modification on the shield, he used a titanium one, where as in the comic, the shield was made by Vibranium. Stan Lee the comic creator came up with the term because he wasn’t a metallurgist. So Miculek crew took the shield out to...

EVA SHOCKEY HAS BECOME the face of women in the hunting movement, and that is a big deal. There have been exactly two women to grace the cover of Field & Stream magazine in the last 100 years: the first lady was Queen Elizabeth; the second Eva Shockey. The National Shooting Sports Foundation reported that the increase in hunting participation from 2008 to 2012 among males was only 1.9 percent; among women it was 10. In those four short years, the number of female hunters jumped from 3.04 million to 3.35 million. Did Eva have anything to do with that?...

Last week the full titanium model of Captain America’s shield stood up to the test against 8 rounds .45 ACP caliber. This week we get to find out if it can be successfully used as an offensive weapon to go for the kill. The titanium model that Jerry Miculek is using is a 12-pound shield that matches exactly that of Captain America. Take a look at the video as Miculek tries his hand at throwing the shield as a weapon at a ballistics dummy to see what the damage may look like. See the result here.

icture a tiny, Christmas town filled with classic Alpine chalets and surrounded by mountains, with the citizens working dutifully to contribute to the common good, and you will envision Zermatt, Switzerland. Zermatt is a picturesque tourist town that would fit the typical political progressive’s idea of utopia on earth: modern, clean and government-controlled. Environmental preservation is key. Residents pride themselves on the pure, glacial water flowing through the town. Cars are banned, except for the few licensees who are permitted to drive electric vehicles. I spoke with a shopkeeper who explained the government’s protection of the Swiss deer. If you...

That's right you heard it, one arrow taking down two hogs. Has anyone done this?, did you video capture it?, anyways here's a video showing Keith Warren displaying such skill, see the video here.