Posted on 02/24/2007 5:18:52 PM PST by xsrdx
SEATTLE - Modern hunters rarely become more famous than Jim Zumbo. A mustachioed, barrel-chested outdoors entrepreneur who lives in a log cabin near Yellowstone National Park, he has spent much of his life writing for prominent outdoors magazines, delivering lectures across the country and starring in cable TV shows about big-game hunting in the West.
Zumbo's fame, however, has turned to black-bordered infamy within America's gun culture -- and his multimedia success has come undone. It all happened in the past week, after he publicly criticized the use of military-style assault rifles by hunters, especially those gunning for prairie dogs.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I had my gunsmith take a hard look at the bore on mine with one of those fancy borescopes. He said he'd bet money it was never fired.
You're quite correct about them being a bargain. I got a chance to test mine out on some Federal land up north. It was 600 yards according to the laser range finder. I was pretty shocked at how well it shot with nothing but a $50.00 4 power Bushnell. Once I had the range, that cast iron skillet was ringing like a gong.
One of the guys I was shooting with had been mocking my rifle, especially since I had the National Match M1A along, too.
"Why are you bothering with that antique? You'll be lucky if it doesn't blow up in your face!"
He had a fancy new Remington 700 with a Leupold on top.
His groups were a bit better. I'll admit that. I attribute that to the fancy aftermarket trigger he had. But we were both hitting the same target at the same range accurately enough to do the job.
And when I told him what it cost to put mine together, and he told me what his rig set him back....well his tune changed considerably.
Before the day was through he was asking me if he could give the Ishy a try. Then he asked where I got it, and where the sporter stock came from, etc etc.
I graciously gave him all the info I had and let him pop off a few of my handloads.
I expect he'll own one soon. AIMsurplus has a few left. Since they're C & R I can get another one shipped right to my house should the fit stike me.
I have a feeling it will.
Nugen'ts trying to rehabilitate him,
I'm a huge Nugent fan so I'm a bit puzzled by his attitude on this one. Normally he's a take no prisoners kind of guy and let's face it, Zumbo really stepped on his Johnson.
Maybe Uncle Ted's trying to convert him from one of those effete hunting snobs into a hard core 2nd Amendment fundamentalist. I wish him luck with that.
Personally I got fed up with those Fudd types long ago. According to most of them if it ain't a $3,000.00 custom made Ed Brown with some fancy glass to match, well you ain't worth talking to let alone shooting with.
Well Mr. Zumbo we can't all live right outside Yellowstone in a $500,000 'cabin', we can't all afford top dollar custom made bolt guns, and most of us hoi polloi will never, ever be able to come up with the scratch for an African safari or a Montana elk or sheep hunt let alone a custom rig for each and every critter we put on the wall or in the pot.
Add to that the fact that he was blissfully ignorant of the fact that 75% of gun owners will never, ever hunt anything in their lives and it's easy to see how Zumbo revealed himself for the elitist snob he really is.
'F him. I won't shed any tears for his 'career'. He'll still have that tiny little shack near Yellowstone and a rack of rifles that most of the rest of us unwashed slobs will never be able to afford just one of.
Jim Zumbo just does not get it. Spent too much time around liberals. And its not a question of accepting his apology or not, he did notthing to me. Its just that the people cannot tolerate a voice that says that people who own military looking firearms are terrorists. People who say such things should never be subsidized in any way are are closet liberals. Liberals who think that the people should have limits on firearms ownership are traitors to their country nothing less.
Tonight I just bought a Sig 229 in .40 with a .357 barrel, 5 mags and 100 rounds of ammo...for $550! And he just remembered that he has a holster that he won't need and gonna toss that in too!
By all means do get one.
I got mine back when Navy Arms had 'em for $110.00 a copy, with an extra ten for a 'hand picked' one. I'm extremely satisfied with mine.
Noumenon sent me some drill stocks he found as the original wood was pretty beat up. I invested some elbow grease, walnut stain, and a few coats clear lacquer and the wood stocks turned out beautiful.
Then I located a source for a sporter stock and a scope mount. I think that cost me about $100.00 total. My gunsmith charged me $50.00 to install the mount. Then I topped it off with a 4 power Bushnell.
So for around $300.00 or so and a bit of work I've got a wonderfully functional 10 round bolt action rifle that's wicked accurate.
I did spend the cash to get the Enfield video from AGI. It was worth every dime when I tore it down for a good long scrubbing.
So if you can afford it, pick one up. It won't be pretty when you get it as it'll be covered with Cosmoline. But once you get it cleaned up I trust you'll be very satisfied with your investment.
Now I gotta go check out those Sigs...
L
Neither can I.
This year I'm going to hit every IDPA event I can and I'm going to get Lurker Jr involved in some rimfire shoots.
Now if I could just find a local range with a 500 yard set up life would be very, very good indeed.
L
That's coming this year. I haven't made it out to Mt. Carrol yet, but I used to pass through there a couple of times a month on my way to Savanna to pick up my son.
I also kept my boat out there back when I was foolish enough to own a powerboat.
Part of the difficulty is my schedule which has me working weekend midnights so just popping out to Mt. Carrol or down to Kankakee after working an 8-10 hour overnight shift is problematic.
But hopefully that will be resolved soon.
So for the time being I'm limited to hitting the IDPA shoots in Plainfield or occasionally wrangling an invite to the private range in Sycamore.
But with every summer there is fresh hope.
L
I'm willing to cut Nugent some slack. I think he showed some support for Zumbo for no other reason than he's a helluva nice guy so he decided to give a guy who's paid a lot of dues (and totally blew it) a chance to make amends. If Zumbo was a colleague/peer/friend of mine, I'd probably make the same unwise decision.
Same situation here. That's what weekends are for!
Let us hope that Mr. Zumbo has his 'come to Jesus' moment regarding the 2nd and becomes every bit as zealous in its defense as Mr. Nugent is.
As one of the Founding Fathers put it "We must all hang together or we will most assuredly all hang separately."
If he does that then in time he will earn his forgiveness.
L
Unfortunately my weekends are for working midnight till 0800. And there ain't enough coffee in the world to keep me awake for a morning of service rifle competition after that.
Besides Kankakee is like 2 hours away so I wouldn't make it in time for the sign in anyway.
So for now it's weekday mornings at GAT in Dundee or Gun World in Bensenville. There's a real dearth of outdoor ranges around here that will let the great unwashed in.
Aurora Sportsmen Club does have CDP shoots but their range is only 100 yards. And I can't quite swing the membership initiation fees yet. Maybe next year.
L
"We must all hang together or we will most assuredly all hang separately."
A simple but great concept to never forget.
Zumbo may eventually be forgiven, but I think it will be more a matter of people just moving on and forgetting about him. If ever forgiven, he'll still never have a show or sportsmen's writing job again. That doesn't leave much. Maybe he'll get a gig as a behind-the-scenes adviser to somebody else's show.
Or maybe he should just take up fishing.
Thanks for the chuckle.
But he better not say anything about banning fly rods. My father in law will be really, really pissed if he does.
L
She's been doing this for a while and hates coyotes. She also trusts me to dispatch them before they can hurt her. You are right; coyotes will sit and bait the dogs to come out. Often they kill the males and mate with the females. About 30 minutes from downtown Reno there is a pack that is crossed with something very large resulting in 60-70 pound coyotes. Scary proposition. I have been working to get rid of them for about three years. Smart buggers stay just close enough to houses to make it hard to get them.
That SIG will never let you down. Mine's in .40, had it for decade now, and I've put thousands and thousands of rounds through it with nary a hiccup. It lets me shoot way better than I have a right to. Find the 'rhythm' of the gun, and multiple quickfire hits at 25 yards in the area of a playing card are a reality.
It's a great carry piece, too.
Zumbo's lasting legacy will be the aid and comfort he gave to America's domestic enemies, who wil be quoting him for years...
Yeah, what's your address, the boys and me are getti' itchy for a good raid./s/
Do you know what those rounds are?
It's a freedom thing. A lot of people just don't understand.
20mm TP-T, that pic is a prototype 20mm AMR built on a Mk82 receiver for the Navy, I think.
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