The Wild West of Shooting Sports – Cowboy Action Shooting
Sure, sporting clays might be in the Olympics, 3-Gun matches may have made their way into televised sports via 3GN, and all levels of shooters may compete on the weekends in IDPA, USPSA, and IPSC matches, but those aren’t the only names in the game. The shooting sports game, that is.
Practical shooting competitions generally have real-world applications that can be carried into our concealed carry, home defense, and general self defense routines. Skeet, Trap, and Sporting Clays help sharpen skills that will carry over into the field for the scattergun hunter. Three-gun matches certainly showcase some amazing shooting abilities with a variety of defensive tools. Do you think that you could perform similar feats of shooting prowess? While riding a galloping horse at full speed? With a single-action firearm?
That is exactly what participants in the sports of Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) do as they carry on the traditions of the Old West. Continue reading
Shot-Force Pro Brings Innovation to AR500 Targets
Several members of the GunLink team have spent at least some portion of their lives in southern Ohio, so the area has a place in our hearts. Although most of us have since spread throughout the country, we were happy to discover Nelsonville-based Shot-Force Pro while wandering the SHOT Show dungeon this past January. It is always nice to run in to someone from “back home” when travelling.
In addition to catching up on Ohio news and being introduced to company founder Steve Davis and his team while visiting their booth in Las Vegas, we were also introduced to some of their innovative targets. On a recent trip back to our old AO, we had the opportunity to stop by and visit the Shot Force facility and see where the magic happens. While there, we also got to put rounds on just about every kind of target that they currently produce as well as getting a behind the scenes look at some of the new target systems that are still in the R&D phase.
After a lively discussion on guns and politics, we got to take a look at the Shot Force production area, including stacks upon stacks of hardened steel plates, the plasma cutting table that transforms them from generic plates into their various shapes, and finished products – clad in brightly colored powder coating – waiting to be shipped out. Continue reading
Meet Yuri Sivitski – The Soviet-Born Shooting Enthusiast with Muscular Dystrophy
How One Disabled USSR-Born Shooting Enthusiast is Chasing the American Dream
If you are surfing GunLink, then chances are good that you are a shooting enthusiast or, at least, have some interest in self defense, hunting, plinking, or other shooting sports. For many of us, picking up a firearm and hitting the range is a perfect way to spend a weekend. For others, however, as enjoyable as it sounds, that is not a possibility. Such is the case for Yuri Sivitski.
We recently made the online acquaintance of Yuri through Twitter. Yuri was born and grew up in the Soviet Union – in the Belorussian Soviet Socialistic Republic, now known as the Republic of Belarus. There, he was diagnosed at a very young age with muscular dystrophy – a disease without specific treatment or cure that weakens the musculoskeletal system and hampers movement. You can see how this would be problematic for someone interested in the shooting sports. Yuri has shared more of his story here on the GunLink Forums, where he has opened himself for an Ask Me Anything (within reason) Q&A session.
Yuri notes the irony of being a 46 year old man who is still working with “the rest of the same muscles I was born with” – which continue to deteriorate. Although he has never been able to walk, and could never lift objects weighing much more than one pound, he has a great interest in firearms and the shooting sports.
I cannot remember, how it started, but everything about firearms has always been one of top interest in my life. As you can imagine, in the Soviet Union access to guns for citizens was, let’s put it softly, restricted.
Given the nature of the Soviets’ harsh restrictions on firearm ownership by the general public and Mr. Sivitski’s condition, he did not have much opportunity to enjoy the shooting sports that he dreamed of, or even to go to a library to learn more about the subject that he loved. For years, a meager selection of a few books and magazines were his only source of information on the topic, so he read and re-read them over and over. And then… the internet came. With this nearly limitless supply of information and knowledge now available to him via the internet through the use of assistive technologies, Yuri described himself as a “dimensionless sponge” to soak up information. He was finally able to pursue knowledge about his passion, even if he was not able to put it into practice on the firing line. Continue reading
Just What the Heck is MOA and Why Should I Care?
Zen and the Art of Better Shooting Through Understanding Minutes of Arc (a.k.a. Minutes of Angle)
Look straight out, toward the horizon. Now look straight up. You don’t have to be a rocket surgeon or remember every word your geometry teacher said to know that the two spots you just looked at are about 90° apart. There’s a pretty big swath of the universe between those two points – roughly half of everything that the Earth isn’t blocking your view of.
Now let’s pretend that you are looking down range at your blue target stand 100 yards away and it occupies, say, 1º of your field of view. There is an aerial view of this at right. Using the math that we all, of course, remember from trigonometry class, we can figure out that if the red line (distance to target stand) is 3600 inches (100y) and the brown angle (half of the portion of your field of view occupied by the target stand) is 0.5º, then the pink line (half the width of the target stand) is 31.41 inches wide (3600*tan 0.5º). Therefore, the blue target stand that occupies 1º of your field of view at 100 yards is 62.83 inches wide. Don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz on this part.
So, why do we care about this and what does trig class have to do with shooting? Because most shooters have heard of MOA (minutes of arc, or minutes of angle) and some of them even have a basic idea of what it means or, at least, pretend to when clicking around the adjustment knobs on their scopes. One minute of arc is 1/60th of one degree. If your blue target stand at 100 yards in the diagram takes up 1º of your view, then it is 60 MOA wide. If you can keep all of your shots in a 63″ circle at 100 yards, you and your firearm are capable of 60 MOA shooting. Congratulations, dead-eye! Continue reading
SHOT Show Range Day 2016
The NSSF’s Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) opens today and, as it is every year, the start of the show is preceded by SHOT Show Industry Day at the Range outside of Las Vegas in Boulder City.
With more than 170 exhibitors and over half a million rounds fired, Industry Day bills itself as the largest, most influential one-day event in the hunting and shooting industry. The event provides the opportunity for outdoor media and buyers to get hands on, live-fire experience with the newest firearms and products that will hit the market in the upcoming year. It is the perfect chance to see what is coming down the pipe and, as we have in past years, the GunLink team took advantage of that opportunity at the 2016 Range Day so that we can share the latest and greatest with you.
One of the new products at Range Day that is sure to create some buzz came from Kimber. Long known for their fine bolt-action rifles and 1911 pistols, the company is carving a path into new territory: the revolver market. Enter the Continue reading
GLOCK Sport Shooting Foundation (GSSF) Celebrates 25th Anniversary
The GLOCK Sport Shooting Foundation (GSSF) celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year. GSSF was formed in 1991 and continues to exceed the goal of introducing new shooters to the shooting sports.
Since 1991, GSSF has seen more than 120,000 members, over 200,000 match entries, and more than 700 outdoor events. Planned for 2016 are 55 outdoor matches scheduled throughout the United States and another 500+ Indoor League matches available for members who wish to demonstrate their marksmanship, win prizes and enjoy family-oriented atmosphere that is safe as well as fun.
GSSF matches are low-pressure competitions using standard GLOCK pistols and there is no need for expensive match gear. Members compete with others according to their respective skill levels and GLOCK models. The courses of fire are simple yet challenging. There are 10 competitive divisions and also special awards for Juniors, Seniors, Super Seniors, Ladies and 3-Person Teams.
“Millions of dollars in prizes and GLOCK pistols have been awarded over the years,” said Alan Ramsey, Director of Training & GSSF. “We hope you will come out this year and shoot with GSSF as we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Mr. Gaston GLOCK’s vision.”
To view the 2016 match schedules and for more information on GSSF, visit www.gssfonline.com.
