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JANUARY 12, 2021

The National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Government Relations-State Affairs Team has learned Washington State’s legislature has pre-filed SB 5078- a measure to make it a criminal offense to manufacture, possess, distribute, import, sell, purchase or transfer a magazine with a capacity greater than ten rounds. SB 5038 has also been introduced, focusing on banning an individual’s right to open carry of firearms.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program announced its new Smallbore Postal Competition, set to begin in January 2021. The event will feature 3-Position and Prone matches, fired from a distance of 50 feet, and is open to both Adult and Junior athletes.
Leica Sport Optics has announced its support of the Wild Sheep Foundation, by signing up as a Platinum sponsor of Sheep Week, which this year takes place virtually from Jan 11 to 16, but the virtual platform will be accessible until Feb 16.

Savage Arms announced the release of their IMPULSE Big Game rifle line. An American made rifle, the new entry features a straight-pull action.
SPORT RIDGE AR front and rear sights are shipping now. Made from aircraft-grade aluminum, they lock in the upright position and the rear sight fits under most optics.
Refined and modernized for the 21st century, Galco's Miami Classic II shoulder holster system carries a handgun in a horizontal position for a very fast draw. It also orients its double spare ammo carrier in a horizontal position.

True Velocity finalized delivery of more than 625,000 rounds of the company’s proprietary composite-cased 6.8mm ammunition to the U.S. Army for consideration in the Next Generation Squad Weapon Program.
Riton Optics is pleased to announce the addition of Emily Phillippi to the Riton Optics marketing team, as the Digital Marketing Manager. In this position, Phillippi will be working to expand the company’s digital strategy and online visibility.
Season highlights from 2020 included Federal sponsored shooters winning big at the 2020 National Sporting Clays Championships and the 2020 Main World Skeet Championships, plus many other competitions across the country.

Primary Arms Government is now a primary distributor for TRIARC Systems and will be carrying the complete line of TRIARC rifles, pistols, and parts.
Primary Arms has unveiled their new company logo, which will represent Primary Arms across their optics, retail, wholesale, and government divisions.
Hornady has been selected as the winner in three categories of the 2021 Predator Xtreme Readers’ Choice Awards.

Mossberg’s newest autoloader, the 940 JM Pro competition shotgun, has been recognized as the 2021 Shooting Illustrated Shotgun of the Year, presented by the National Rifle Association Publications.
SIG SAUER Academy announced that the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services has approved the SIG SAUER Academy Semi-Automatic Pistol Instructor Course for their Armed Guard Instructors. The New York DCJS is a statewide multi-function support agency.
Knife Rights’ Ohio Knife Law Reform Bill, SB 140, was signed yesterday by Governor Mike DeWine. The law will take effect on April 10, 2021. Existing law remains in effect until that time.

The New Hampshire Second Amendment State Preemption Act, HB 307, has been introduced. This bill adds teeth to the state's existing preemption law for knives -- as well as firearms and ammunition.
Joe Biden’s Twitter message to former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords may read like a threat against one gun rights organization, but it is really an attack on every gun owner in the nation, the Second Amendment Foundation said.
Whatever adventures draw you outside, Vortex is making sure this year starts with plenty of ways to hunt harder, shoot faster, and take your outdoor passions to new heights.
Crimson Trace announces 50 new optics in two lines. The HARDLINE series of scopes are designed for tactical and competition use. The BRUSHLINE scopes are built for the hunt.
Real Avid introduces Gun-Max Gun Oil, a superior firearms lubricant with a proprietary formulation that consistently outperforms in every important benchmark of firearm protection, including corrosion resistance, long-lasting lubrication under friction, and low-temperature viscosity.
FN Introduces the FN 509 LS Edge, a tactical pistol delivered to give users every advantage in demanding environments.
Brand Avalanche Media, with custom guns and gear designer Ed Brown Products, announced the Ed Brown 1911 Magazine Exchange Program. For old magazines and a little cash, you get made-in-America Ed Brown Products magazines.
Plano Synergy has launched a new, easy way to navigate through 2021 new hunting products. The new microsite features new products from the many Plano Synergy family of brands covering archery, waterfowl, deer and turkey hunting, and more.
Pulsar unveiled the Thermion XM30 3.5-14x Thermal Riflescope. It guarantees adult-sized heat signature detection up to 1,400 yards away, day or night.
 

Young officers bought small 38s for backup guns never having had any training. This is not how to empty a revolver for reloading.

Yesterday, in Shooting Wire, I covered shooting the double action revolver. Now for some gun handling hints. It’s simple – even easy, compared to shooting – but it’s hardly intuitive in my experience. It usually takes an old hand to show the way. Once learned, it seems easy to retain.

For loading and unloading, the watchword is gravity. It’s a constant and helps you in the process of loading and emptying a revolver. A question about Rule 2 arises, but it’s brushed aside as follows: when the gun is out of battery, it is unlikely to be able to fire. When you “disassemble” the double action revolver by opening the cylinder, pointing it skyward to help clear the empties from firing chambers is wise – unlike doing the same with an autopistol.

Keeping the gun level while dumping empties allows brass to get under the extractor star. This can be irritating on the range and a calamity on the street. “Let gravity be your friend.”

Loading is likewise aided by gravity. With the muzzle to the deck, loaded rounds can be guided to their chambers and Mother Earth does the rest … unless the gun’s very dirty.

The old way to empty the revolver after firing, above, supplanted by a more positive ejection technique (below.)
What’s the “best method?” There is some debate but it’s not a hot, flashpoint debate like which caliber is best, what cartridge within each caliber, and other time killers.

The old unloading method was to simply open the cylinder, transfer the gun to the left hand (we were all right-handed then, I suppose), point it skyward and punch the ejector rod with the pad of the thumb. As state and local agencies went to magnums and federal agencies went to over-loaded 38s, the chamber pressures would form the brass to the chamber wall. The ejector rod would thus poke a hole through the pad of your thumb.

Not a good plan.

They moved to the “same thing only different,” by using the palm of the shooting hand to smack the ejector rod. Now the hole was through your palm and you could well have bent the ejector rod – again, less than profitable.

Worse, when shooting +P+ 38s or 357 Magnums, the first place to heat up on a revolver was the forcing cone – the aft part of the barrel that intrudes into the cylinder window of the revolver frame. The temperature would be high enough that officers in training were known to drop guns when the hand was unexpectedly burned.

I wandered into the Ayoob-Stressfire method; the gun stays in the shooting hand after the cylinder opens, the shooting thumb flagged high, keeping the cylinder still. Pointing the piece skyward, using the barrel as a guide, the palm at the proximal joint of the left hand firmly pops the ejector rod down, clearing the chambers.

Loading making use of gravity, the support hand cupped to collect dropped rounds. Below, the old training style had us loading from pockets, okay when pressing rounds in one at a time.

I open the index and middle fingers of the non-gun hand (making a “V”) and cover the front of the cylinder with my hand, the ejector going between the first two fingers. The gun, now in the left hand, is pointed down, the revolver butt against my midsection. The palm of the supporting hand is cupped to catch loose rounds if fumbled. The dominant hand, the most dexterous, loads the chambers.

Traditionally – and by that, I mean when I went through the academy – ammo was carried in the strongside pocket on the range. To keep things moving, you’d simply load from the pocket with the gun a little less than level in the ‘wrong’ hand – as shown. Remarkably, this was relatively fumble free – whether from the intense week of firearms class or because it reflected how the human interfaced with the machine. Consider though that each round is individually being pressed into a chamber; using speed loaders, having the revolver being reloaded at an angle is a bad plan.

As I don’t carry loose rounds in my pockets, I’ve not practiced this since 1978.

A critical point to repeat: I pin the gun to my midsection as I load. This keeps things still, in a place that is kinesthetically repeatable in case I’m in the dark or something draws my attention from loading. This is where fluted cylinders are critical. You can load by feel, turning the cylinder back one or two places after filling – so those are the next chambers up.

Smooth, unfluted cylinders are worthless on a working revolver. Sadly, some manufacturers like them.

Do I prefer loops, loading strips, speed loaders …? Yes, I do. Any of them work with practice. I recently received some gear from Zeta6. Pictured is the J-CLIP. Designed for 5-shot 38/357 J-frame size revolvers, it features a pentagon shape which assists in fit and helps clear the stocks. The J-CLIP is made from polyurethane material for use in both hot and cold environments.

It looks interesting and I’m trying it out now.

-- Rich Grassi

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