Updated on February 20, 2026
After pitching fastpitch softball in Denver, Colorado, for several years, I moved to Southern California in 1971. I pitched in various leagues across Southern California five times a week for 20 years. In 1974 and 1975, I pitched in a Sunday-morning league at Evergreen Park in East LA, on the corner of 4th and Evergreen. Starting in 1976, the better players from miles around began playing in a Sunday-morning league at Hoover Park in Watts, on the corner of Manchester and Hoover, just west of the Harbor Freeway.
Hoover Park was so large that four fastpitch games could be played at the same time on softball diamonds at each of the park's four corners. All the games started at 10 am, and once they ended, some players from all four teams gathered under the trees on the first-base side of the northwest corner of the park to joke around with friends. With help from his teenage children, an enterprising man sold barbecued chicken, hot links, ribs, and various cold drinks to wash it all down. The highlight was the joking and storytelling, with ballplayers, fans, and old-timers joining in to have a good time. It was great!
An older gentleman would come to the games dressed in a suit. I guessed he was stopping by after church. He would stand behind the backstop, watch whatever game was being played on the northwest softball diamond with some of his older friends, and then stay for the storytelling afterward. I looked forward to his visits. I enjoyed joking with him and listening to his stories.
Once, he told me a funny story about the .45-52 Zulu gun. I couldn’t remember the whole thing. I tried to repeat it, but I couldn't recall all the little details. I begged him for a word or two, but he would never help me. The next time I saw him, I pestered him to tell me about the .45-52 Zulu gun again. It drove me nuts because he would only share it once, and then that would be it. He would never repeat it. He would always say, “I’ll tell it to you again the next time I see you.”
Sometimes, I wouldn’t see him for months, and I worried I might never see him again. I put a small cassette tape recorder in a zip-lock bag to keep out the dust and started carrying it in my game bag.
Finally, in 1982, I saw him for the last time, and this time I told him I wasn’t going to let him go until he told me about the .45-52 Zulu gun. I showed him the tape recorder and said I had a C-90 cassette in it.
After some barbecue, he said, “Let’s take a walk.” I let him do all the talking as we moved away from the others and headed down the left-field line toward the other softball diamond in the northeast corner of the park, which was almost empty by then. I sensed he just wanted to talk. He shared stories about his life and a variety of topics. We stopped walking and sat in the stands at the other softball diamond, just talking about playing ball and life in general.
When the first side of the tape finished, I flipped it over to the other side. We talked for a little longer, and then he said, “Before your tape runs out, I’d better tell you about the .45-52 Zulu gun.” We started walking back to join the others as he began sharing the story, and, like any good storyteller, he took his time.
With his gravelly voice, he slowly told the story of his marvelous gun: “I want to tell you about the .45-52 Zulu gun. It’s the most amazing gun you’ll ever see. You’d have to see it to believe it. It’s the .45-52 Zulu gun built on an automatic frame. It'll shoot nine times before you can cock it and ten times before you can stop it. If you hold it on the left, it says, "If you hold me square, I'll shoot him fair." If you hold it on the right, it says, "If you hold me level, I'll shoot the Devil." Then he moved his old, bony hand back and forth past my ear in a snake-like motion while saying, "It shoots the bewitching cannonball. If it goes by and misses you, it'll back right up and hit you. Don't allow you no chance at all!"
He was truly a gentleman, and I miss him.
When anyone asks me if I own any guns, I jokingly say I have one of each. Seriously, in Texas, my small collection might be seen as just a good start toward a real collection. I have a variety of new guns in all the various actions—single- and double-action revolvers, single-shot handguns and rifles, semi-auto pistols and rifles, bolt- and lever-action rifles, semi-auto shotguns, black powder revolvers and rifles, along with an assortment of BB guns, pellet pistols, and rifles. My AEG (Automatic Electric Gun) battery-powered KWA Airsoft rifles are really fun. Unlike compressed-air guns that lose pressure and aren’t always ready to shoot when you really need them, the large, rechargeable Airsoft batteries stay ready for about 2 years. They are perfect replicas of a full-size military M16 rifle and a more compact M4 rifle with a collapsible stock and a shorter barrel. They shoot in semi- and full-auto modes at about 20 hard, plastic 25-grain BBs per second from a 120-round magazine. The BBs travel at 400 feet per second and can slightly penetrate human skin, but only bounce off a dog's fur. I like dogs, but when stray dogs wander onto our property chasing our cats, I use the battery-powered, full-auto Airsoft rifles to chase them away, like using a very powerful garden hose. You don't even need to use the sights; just follow the stream of white BBs.
Even with numerous AR-15 rifles equipped having various sights, accessories, and barrel lengths, I still have a special fondness for my collection of lever-action rifles and single-action revolvers. I have an entire room in my house and part of my large garage/workshop dedicated to guns, ammo, and all kinds of reloading gear, including my Hornady 5-stage Lock-N-Load Auto-Progressive Reloading machine with an automatic case feeder that can produce 500 finished rounds per hour. Incidentally, if you don’t reload, Buffalo Bore makes the most powerful off-the-shelf ammo.
I own eleven .22 rimfire guns in various actions. The .22 rimfire revolvers, pistols, and rifles produce minimal noise and recoil. Shooting a mountain of rimfire ammo is a great way to train your mind to dissociate pulling the trigger from any noise or recoil. Then, when I shoot my more powerful guns, my mind is only focused on proper trigger control, not on what happens afterward. Remember to concentrate on your front sight because the main reason for having to reload is missing your target. When shooting my revolvers, I sometimes leave one of the cylinders empty so I can be surprised when the gun doesn’t fire. I can then verify that the barrel has absolutely no movement and that the sights stay perfectly aligned on the target.
My Freedom Arms Premier Grade, Model 83, .454 Casull, 10" barrel, single-action revolver with a factory trigger job and a 4-port Mag-na-port muzzle brake is the world’s finest single-action revolver. It delivers twice the muzzle energy of my Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum, 10.5" barrel, single-action revolver, and is just one example of my “thumpers.” I can hit soft drink cans at 100 yards with these long-barrel revolvers, and I can also hit them with Spanky, my Smith & Wesson Model 640 double-action .357 Magnum, 2" barrel, fixed-sight, concealed-hammer revolver. Contrary to popular opinion, the length of the barrel has nothing to do with the gun’s accuracy. It's just easier to keep the sights aligned when the sight radius is longer. When I'm shooting, I keep both eyes open, concentrate on controlled breathing, using a consistent, firm grip on the gun with my off-hand while keeping my shooting hand relaxed so the movement of my index finger is not influenced by my grip. I use just the pad of my index finger to press the lower part of the trigger straight to the rear, keeping the sights aligned and maintaining consistent control of the gun after it has been fired and while the bullet is still traveling down the barrel. As the big boys say, “If the recoil's gonna kill ya, there's no sense flinchin.”
I lived in Southern California for 40 years, and from 1995 to nearly 2000, I drove my motorhome every weekend to a place where I could camp and do some shooting. I first met Guy (I never knew his last name) when I started shooting west of Lytle Creek, CA, which is west of the I-15 Freeway and north of San Bernardino. Guy had four or five motorcycles, and whichever one would start that day was the one he would ride. Guy collected brass on the ground wherever people were shooting and sold it to anyone interested. I didn’t start collecting much brass until I really began shooting in 1993. One of my first priorities was to get Lake City or Federal brass for my AR-15 rifles. My next goal was to collect brass in the main calibers, such as .38 Special, .357 Magnum, 44 Magnum, .45 ACP, and .45 Colt with Federal, Winchester, Remington, or Starline headstamps. I told Guy about my priorities, and he would always find me wherever I was shooting and make me a deal on brass. I moved from Lytle Creek to a shooting spot near Wrightwood, CA, then to a place west of Hodge Road, six miles south of Barstow. Because Guy traveled a long way, whenever he showed up, I bought most of everything he had. Looking back, my only regret is that I didn’t pay him enough for his brass. Guy was over 50 and had only one tooth, so I always made sure I had several packets of sliced ham available, which was his favorite food. I took him out to dinner several times, and we became good friends.
I took the brass that I bought from Guy and prepared the cases for reloading. Straight-walled brass can be reloaded about 40 times, but bottle-shaped brass can only be reloaded about 5 times before cracks appear. The first step is to tumble the brass in chopped-up walnut shells to remove most of the dirt. I bought 2 of Dillion’s largest tumblers. I used one for walnut media and the other for corn media to polish the brass at the end of the reloading process. For anyone interested, here are the steps I follow to make a new round.
Reloading protocols for my Hornady 5-stage progressive reloading press with no prep and hand priming
1. Tumble in walnut media
2. Sort brass according to headstamp
3. Lube the cases
4. Station #1 – Remove old primer with depriming die
5. Station #2 - Full length resize: ______ Shoulder resize: ______ Neck resize: ______
6. Check case with micrometer and Case Length Headspace Gage
7. Resize the case base with Bulge Buster if necessary
8. Trim case length if necessary: ____________________________
9. Case neck chamfer and deburr if trimmed
10. Remove military crimp if necessary, primer pocket uniform, and flash hole deburr
11. Tumble in corn media
12. Check for corn media inside the case with a flashlight
13. Check primer flash hole for corn media
14. Insert new primer and verify primer, headstamp, and count in loading block
15. Station #1 - Expander ball die for straight wall cases
16. Station #1A - Prime if not done with the hand priming tool.
17. Station #2 - Load with powder
18. Station #3 - Powder check with RCBS lock-out die
19. Station #4 - Seat bullet to exact specifications
20. Station #5 - Crimp bullet with Lee factory crimp
The best place to camp and shoot was in the high desert, about six miles south of Barstow at the Hodge Road exit off I-15. To the west, all anyone could see was sand. I would park roughly two miles west of the freeway, where shooters practiced against a large hillside. This was all BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, which allowed me to camp from Friday evening until Monday morning, because I had to return to work by 1:00 pm. My friends always knew where to find me on weekends, often stopping by for a few hours or camping overnight. Since I mainly used .22 LR rimfire ammo and less of the larger calibers, I probably spent more on steaks and beer than on ammunition. Walmart sold bricks (550 rounds) of Federal Bulk .22 LR rimfire, 36-grain long rifle, copper-plated lead, hollow-point ammunition for $8.99, and I stocked up when it was on sale. I always shot at least two bricks, or 1,100 rounds, of .22 LR rimfire each weekend, in addition to larger-caliber rounds. Shooting two bricks weekly for 52 weeks totals 57,200 rounds a year, and over four and a half years, about 257,400 rounds of .22 LR rimfire. Including all rounds, the total is roughly 300,000 rounds. I was an athlete with good eye-hand coordination and a steady hand, but I believe almost anyone can become a skilled shooter after firing a ton of ammo every weekend for four and a half years. Sometimes, I would get so "in the zone" that it felt like the gun was shooting itself, and I couldn't miss.
While shooting at Hodge Road, I had a tradition. On Sundays, after I finished shooting, I would load the 5-shot .454 Casull, and anyone still around could try to hit a clay pigeon on the hillside 80 yards away. I always shot last, but one time when I pulled the trigger… nothing happened! I was relieved to see that the barrel never moved at all. I kept the gun pointed downrange for 15 to 20 seconds to ensure it wasn't a delayed fire—a misfire. I reasoned that if it wasn't a misfire, someone might have pulled the hammer back incorrectly and bypassed a cylinder. I decided it would be good practice to keep pulling the hammer back and pulling the trigger, never knowing when or if it would fire, while keeping the barrel rock steady. After a couple more tries, the gun finally fired, and I hit the clay pigeon despite all the distractions. My attorney, Steve Johnson, was one of the shooters and can verify the story. I gave him one of the fired brass from the .454 Casull to put on his desk as a keepsake. The two loudest sounds you'll ever hear are when the gun goes bang when you expected a click, and when it clicks when you expected a bang.
Speaking of misfires, I used to start every Saturday morning by unloading 2 bricks (1,100 rounds) of .22 LR rimfire into a .50-caliber ammo can. To keep things consistent, I only store all my ammo types in .50-caliber cans. Coincidentally, later in the day, I accidentally dropped a full beer into the ammo can. As quickly as I could, I poured the whole can onto a towel and tried to dry the ammo as fast as possible. Needless to say, I discovered that .22 LR rimfire ammo isn’t as waterproof as other types, leading to quite a few misfires. That made for a long and frustrating weekend of shooting, but I improved my malfunction clearance drills.
Even though I had a 32-foot motorhome, I always cooked outside under the awning. I carried a 5-gallon can filled with unleaded gasoline for my Coleman stove, Coleman lantern, and anything else that needed fuel, like lighting up ant hills. In the evening, the smell of cooking steak attracted some foxes. To protect them, I never tried to make pets of them so they would stay cautious of humans and avoid getting shot by someone who didn’t appreciate watching wildlife. From where I sat near the stove, I could see them at the edge of the lantern light, eating my food scraps and drinking water. I enjoyed the sound of their feet crunching on the sand as they cautiously wandered around the camp’s edge, searching for different scents before coming in to eat. I was always amazed at how big the foxes’ tails were, nearly as large as the rest of their bodies.
From the time I stepped outside the motorhome in the morning until all the shooting was finished in the evening, I consistently wore electronic noise-canceling shooting earmuffs. These earmuffs instantly cut off sound when you shoot but allow you to carry on a conversation without missing a word. I had the sensitivity turned all the way up so I could hear a squirrel climbing a tree 100 yards away, ensuring no one could sneak up behind me. As I recall, a nine-volt Duracell battery would last about two months. Every month or so, I would fill each ear canal with hydrogen peroxide and let it bubble for a few minutes to eliminate germs. All radio announcers and anyone who wears ear muffs for extended periods know that moisture can accumulate in your ears and that such moisture creates a breeding ground for bacteria. In the inner ear, there are semi-circular canals filled with fluid and tiny hairs. When you spin in a circle, the fluid flows past those little hairs, giving you the sensation of spinning. When you stop spinning, the fluid flows back and bends the hairs the other way, making you feel as if you’re still spinning instead of just standing still, which can cause dizziness and potentially make you fall over. Those tiny hairs serve another purpose as well. Each hair varies in length, vibrating at different frequencies, allowing you to hear low, medium, and high notes. When you shoot and hear a ringing in your ears, irreversible hearing damage has occurred. Some of those hairs break off and will never regrow, and you’ll lose the ability to hear those frequencies again. Shooting without hearing protection often results in you saying, “What?” Even the small bones surrounding your ears are affected by harmful vibrations, which is why simple earplugs without ear muffs aren't enough to protect your hearing.
Black powder is an explosive, but smokeless gunpowder does not explode; it only burns to create pressure. In chemistry class, you learn that increased heat speeds up any chemical reaction. When the firing pin strikes the primer and the priming mixture ignites, the hot gases pass through the primer hole and into the main powder charge, where a much larger combustion happens and produces more pressure. If the ammunition is exposed to direct sunlight, the pressures generated will be significantly higher than if the powder is at normal room temperature, exceeding the safe limits set by SAAMI, the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute. Elevated pressure can cause your gun to explode and injure your body parts.
The most powerful long-range bolt-action rifle in my collection is a Remington Model 700 with a 26-inch barrel, chambered in .300 Winchester Magnum. With my handloads, I can place three shots inside the diameter of a dime at 100 yards. In fact, all of my bolt rifles can do the same. I set the bullet ogives on my handloads to be 10 thousandths off the lands. I affectionately named it “Ma Bell,” inspired by the phrase "Reach out and touch someone" from a humorous TV ad for Ma Bell, a long- distance telecommunications company once run by AT&T. I recall spotting a comical T- shirt emblazoned with “SNIPER,” and beneath it, the phrase, “If you run, you will only die tired.” Additionally, at a truck stop, I came across another shirt that read, “I know the load is going to be late, but the voices keep telling me to pull over and clean the guns.” It struck me as hilarious, though in today's peculiar climate, no truck driver would dare wear something like that. In Afghanistan, some snipers wielded an even more formidable .50- caliber rifle for long- range engagements. The. The .50 Browning Machine Gun cartridge is renowned for its power, long-range accuracy, and armor-piercing capabilities. Prior to 1970, many fighter jets were equipped with six. 50- caliber machine guns. Even today, military tanks are equipped with the .50-caliber machine gun, the M2 Browning, or “Ma Deuce,” which was invented by John M. Browning in 1918 after World War I. The cartridge measures 5 1/2 inches in length, and its bullet weighs five times more than that of a standard hunting rifle. Once, I witnessed a man firing a massive .50 BMG bolt-action rifle. He had foolishly left his ammunition exposed to direct sunlight while setting up his shooting bench. After he fired, he couldn't get the bolt to open. In a moment of desperation, he resorted to using a hammer on the bolt. Fortunately, his attempts were in vain, preventing him from firing another round, and he had to cease shooting. It was like witnessing a train wreck--I couldn't look away. When I shoot in the desert, I keep my firearms and ammunition shaded under the awning of my motorhome. If an awning isn't available, cover your guns and ammo with towels or anything else to shield them from direct sunlight.
One of the most accurate guns I own is a Ruger New Model Single-Six .22 rimfire, single-action revolver with a 9.5" barrel that I purchased in 1981. When I first bought it, it could shoot around a corner because Ruger had installed the barrel crooked. When I got it back from Ruger’s custom shop, where it was repaired for free, it shot perfectly. In addition to shooting .22 rimfire, it came with a .22 Magnum cylinder. Most people don't know that .22 Magnum ammo uses a .224" diameter bullet, while regular .22 rimfire ammo uses a .222" diameter bullet. So, how is it that a revolver with a .224" maximum internal groove diameter accurately shoots a smaller .222" diameter bullet? The answer is that a new rimfire barrel is drilled to a smaller bore of .219". Then barrel reamers are pulled through the bore, and grooves are cut. The reamers remove metal until the larger barrel diameter of .224" is reached, and only the remaining raised material at .219" is left. This material, which was once just the bore, is now called the lands. A typical barrel has 6 lands and grooves with a right-hand twist because the bullet is usually made to spin clockwise. Even though the groove diameter is .224", the smaller .222" rimfire bullet easily engages the .219" lands and is accurately spun in the barrel.
When I ordered my 454 Casull, I also specified a .45 Colt and a .45 Auto cylinder. The nominal bullet diameter for all three is .452 inches. The .45 Auto requires a special cylinder because the brass lacks a rim to hold it in place and must headspace on a step or groove inside the cylinder. The .454 Casull brass is longer than the .45 Colt brass, and firing a .45 Colt in a .454 Casull cylinder can cause a worn spot and make it harder to extract the brass after firing. The .454 Casull also features a taller front sight for shooting .45 Colt and .45 Auto rounds. Since these rounds are much slower, they spend more time in the barrel, which causes the barrel to rise more. As a result, the bullets are launched at a higher trajectory. If a taller front sight isn't used to make the barrel point further downward, the bullets will fly right over the target.
The same issue happens to a lesser degree when shooting .357 Magnum and .38 Special ammunition without adjusting the sights. The slower .38 Special bullet stays in the barrel longer, causes more barrel rise, and follows a higher trajectory. As a result, the .38 Special bullet will hit higher on the target than the .357 Magnum bullet.
I have a Glock Model 20 that fires 10mm Auto ammo. It holds 15 rounds in the magazine, and with a two-round magazine extension and one in the barrel, you have 18 rounds ready. I keep only 10 rounds in the magazine so the spring doesn't get overly compressed, which could cause a failure to feed. I do the same with any of my guns that have springs in their magazines—just keep them half-loaded when sitting around the house. The 10mm is about equal in power to a .41 Magnum. I love Glock pistols because I believe they’re the most reliable semi-auto pistols made, and that’s the gun I keep beside my bed for things that go bump in the night. The problem is I hate picking up brass, so I wanted a revolver that would shoot 10mm Auto. Ruger finally decided to make a New Model Blackhawk, Convertible, 10mm Auto, single-action revolver with a 6.5-inch barrel and an extra .40 S&W cylinder. I love convertible revolvers, and now I don't have to pick up the brass.
Incidentally, the Glock 10mm pistol can fire .40 S&W ammunition without any modifications. Regardless of brass length, both 10mm Auto and .40 S&W cartridges are securely held against the bolt face by the extractor. There is no additional wear on the extractor, the pistol functions perfectly, and I highly recommend trying it. Some Glock shooters report firing over 20,000 rounds of .40 S&W through their 10mm Glocks without any issues.
My 2-inch-barrel .357 Magnum S&W Model 640, a 5-shot revolver, will definitely give your hand a smack, which is why I named it "Spanky." Concealed-hammer revolvers like Spanky are the only guns in the world you can shoot all five rounds from in your pocket without taking it out because there’s no hammer to catch your pocket lining. Suppose the noise in your backyard is just the neighbor's kid retrieving his football, and your hand is on Spanky in your pocket. In that case, he won’t run home thinking you pulled a gun on him. But if it's a bad guy already in your face, you can immediately start defending yourself while Spanky is still in your pocket.
Whenever a group of people parked next to my motorhome, I would let them shoot for a while, then go over to introduce myself. I enjoyed doing a little "show and tell" with Spanky and telling them they should get a concealed-carry hammer revolver for self- defense. I had my S&W Model 617 with an 8 3/8- inch barrel .22 rimfire target revolver, hidden in my armpit. I would start my demonstration with Spanky by having their best shooter aim at a big target about 15 to 20 feet away, while explaining how much the gun would recoil. Of course, he would miss way below the target because he anticipated the recoil and jerked the gun downward. I'd ask if he wanted to try again, and most people would decline. Throughout all of my shooting, when shooting guns that have a kick, I learned the anyone can pull the trigger the first time, but you really have to want to the second time! While he shot, I'd secretly hand one of his friends the long-barreled .22 revolver. I'd then tell him I knew what the problem was: he was shooting at something way too big and way to close. I'd point out a 4.5-inch orange clay pigeon on the hillside about 80 yards away left over from some shotgun shooters. I loved seeing their eyes get as big as silver dollars when I would hit the clay pigeon on my first try. What they didn't realize was that I'd do the same demonstration several times on Saturdays and Sundays with my special .357 Magnum reloads. Over the years, I averaged 4 to 6 demonstrations each weekend, totaling around 200 to 300 a year, and over more than 4 years, I probably performed that demonstration around 800 to 1, 200 times. Given that much practice, even if I didn't hit on my first shot, I'd usually hit it with one of my five shots. On the rare occasion I missed all five, I was so close that you'd wonder why I didn't hit it. Then I'd hand their shooter my S&W Model 617 target revolver and tell him to shoot it. Because the revolver had such a long barrel, he thought the recoil would be fierce, and again he jerked the gun, shooting way low at a very big and close target. We all enjoyed a good laugh, and they'd invite me to shoot all their guns. I shot a lot of their guns and ammo for free, and everyone had a good time.
In California, it used to take a long time and a lot of patience to jump through hoops to get a Concealed Carry Weapons Permit. When I retired, I wanted to move to a gun-friendly state, so after moving from California to South Dakota, I asked the Sheriff what it would take to get a Concealed Carry Weapons Permit. His answer was, “$10 and 20 minutes.” Now, with constitutional carry, I don’t need a permit to carry in the state, but I still buy the permit so I can legally carry in all other states that have reciprocity agreements with South Dakota. The $10 permit used to be valid for 4 years, but the last time I renewed, it was good for 5 years. Thirty states have now passed Constitutional Carry laws, with more to come. Hopefully, one day, all 50 states will have Constitutional Carry laws, and we can finally do away with permits of any kind to carry a concealed gun. Crime has decreased in every state where permits are easily obtained. As the old saying goes, “Society is safer when criminals don’t know who’s armed.”
Here are some more sayings that make sense:
An armed society is a polite society.
God made man. Colonel Colt made them equal.
A gun is the only way that a 100-pound woman is equal to a 300-pound man.
A gun is like a parachute. If you need one and don't have one, you'll never need one again.
If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.
It’s better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
When I was shooting in California, I rarely set up targets, but I loved seeing lots of empty plastic shotgun hulls lying on the ground, leftovers from someone else practicing shooting clay birds with their shotgun. Because .22 LR rimfire ammo was cheap to shoot, I used it for most of my shooting when I tried to hit the same shotgun hull six times with any of my .22 rimfire guns. Over four and a half years of shooting, thousands of times a day, I would pick out a shotgun hull lying about 15 feet away from me and shoot it. No matter where it landed, I shot the same hull again and again. Every time I shot it, it bounced up and landed farther away. So, when I finally shot at the same plastic hull for the sixth time, it was usually far from me, making it fairly difficult, but I still managed to hit it most of the time. Even though the desert floor was sandy and fairly level, there were still small dips. If I were already 5 for 5 on a hull, it might be partially hidden behind a small dip and almost impossible to see when it was time for my sixth shot. When I managed to hit it, despite the low odds, I’d give myself a mental high-five, reload, and move on to the next hull. What was really frustrating was that I was already 5-for-5 when the hull landed where it was impossible to see. In those moments, I just picked a target at random to empty the cylinder. I always reloaded with a full cylinder, so I was ready to go 6-for-6 on my next shot.
All day long, I kept switching to one of my eleven different 22 rimfire guns, but I never loaded more than six rounds in the magazine or cylinder. Even though I had various types of speed-loaders, I rarely used them, so unloading and reloading the cylinder or magazine built muscle memory, and I became really good at it. I even got skilled at just picking six rounds out of my ammo can. My Ruger 10/22 semi-auto rimfire rifle has a $500, 20-inch Volquartsen air-gauged stainless-steel fluted heavy barrel with a muzzle brake, a gray Fajen laminated thumbhole stock, and is topped with a red-dot scope. The 10/22 can also be fitted with an illuminated reticle scope. It's boring to shoot because it's almost impossible to miss the target. My Ruger 77/22 bolt-action rimfire rifle has the same $500, 20-inch Volquartsen air-gauged stainless steel fluted heavy barrel with a muzzle brake, a matching $300 Fajen laminated thumbhole stock, and is topped with a $1,000 Leupold 6.5 x 20 x 40mm AO (adjustable objective front lens) scope with target knobs and a tritium-illuminated Mil-Dot reticle (the same reticle as on all my other bolt-action rifles). It's really boring to shoot because you just can't miss. When I shoot at targets over 200 yards away, because of the distance, the targets seem to take forever to fall.
Limp wristing is a term used when you don’t hold your semi-auto pistol, rifle, or shotgun firmly enough, which prevents the bolt from functioning properly and causes a malfunction called a failure to feed. Semi-autos of all types require a certain amount of resistance from a firm grip to cycle the action. If you hold the gun too loosely, the spent cartridge might not be ejected because the bolt doesn’t go far enough to the rear during the reloading cycle. Additionally, the bolt must travel far enough to the rear to fully compress the recoil spring, so that when it moves forward, it has sufficient speed to pick up and fully seat a new round.
When someone else fires a gun that you have sighted in, whether it has iron sights or a scope, the bullet will usually hit a different spot on the target. Because no two people grip a gun with the same amount of firmness, the gun may move more or less while the round is still moving down the barrel, which is still rising from the recoil of being fired.
Speaking of grips, I replaced the grips on all my revolvers with Hogue OverMolded Grips. Hogue doesn't make a grip for my Freedom Arms .454 Casull revolver, so I left it with the rubber Pachmayr grips that came with the gun in addition to the black Micarta grips. I even swapped out the pretty white grips on my Ruger Vaquero for Hogue OverMolded Grips. I like that the grip feels the same whether I'm shooting my .22 rimfires, my .44 Magnum, or any of the calibers in between. I just want a consistent, secure grip; by how it feels, I can't tell which gun I'm shooting. The greatest shooter of all time is Jerry Miculek. Since he does action shooting, which requires a fast draw, he uses smooth wooden grips and even puts cornstarch powder on his hands to make them slicker. Jerry believes that when he draws, he wants the gun to move in his hands to get the right grip while presenting it to the target. I'm the opposite. I don't do quick-draw shooting, but I just want a firm grip.
Jerry Miculek – World Record Shooting
Jerry Miculek - World Records
Marshall Matt Dillon from the TV series Gunsmoke faced off against an unknown character and lived, even though the other guy's gunshot was heard first in some episodes. Matt Dillon was cool under pressure and made his shot count, even though the other guy shot first—and missed. The other guy was Arvo Ojala, a famous holster maker and quick-draw teacher to hundreds of movie stars, including James Arness, who played Matt Dillon. As a joke on the producers, James Arness and Arvo actually did the opening scene once, with Dillon falling to the ground. Arvo was born to Finnish immigrants, and the “J” in his last name, Ojala, is pronounced as a J instead of the Spanish sound H. Ojala was "the genuine article" to those he tutored. His speed was clocked and verified multiple times. He could draw, fire, and hit the target in one-sixth of a second, faster than the eye can blink. Ojala’s holsters included a metal insert inside that kept the holster more firmly open and allowed the gun's cylinder to rotate in the holster. His technique of cocking "in the holster" as he drew revolutionized Western cowboy movies. For further proof of his quick-draw ability, Arvo would drop a silver dollar with his gun hand from belt height, then draw and hit the coin before it could fall four inches. This was done with "live," or full-power, ammunition, not the wax bullets and quarter-loads used today in so-called "fast draw" competitions. In another exhibition, his opponent (using blanks) would face him with his pistol out of the holster and cocked, then nod as he simultaneously fired his revolver, while Arvo would draw and fire before the opponent could get a shot off. He never lost.
Arvo OJala - Gunsmoke Quick Draw
On the Go Show - Arvo Ojala & Valerie Ojala Keller
Bob Munden is an exhibition shooter who performed with handguns, rifles, and shotguns. He is best known for holding 18 world records in Fast Draw and for being named "Fastest Man with a Gun Who Ever Lived" by Guinness World Records. To set his incredible speed records, Bob used a holster that could never be used in Western cowboy movies because it just looked weird.
Bob Munden - Guinness World Records
Triple Shot
This is a video about a single-action shooter who can fan the hammer and shoot 3 times.
Triple Shot
This is a unique video showing how high a bullet must arc to hit a target 711 yards away
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1URr5NTBesU
I retired to a small town in northwest South Dakota, and, as luck would have it, there was a shooting range just south of town. A few years ago, in 2018, when I was 73 and before I started plinking in the afternoon, I was still lugging a couple of guns and a few ammo cans up to the shooting bench at the local shooting range when Bill Johnson, the local Deputy Sheriff, stopped by. We talked about routine stuff for a while, but then Bill said he had better leave because he didn’t want to interfere with my shooting practice. I told him to stay because he had never seen me shoot. Six years earlier, in 2012, when I was 67, and shortly after I retired here in November 2011, I was talking to Bill at the local grocery store, and I explained that, as part of my shooting routine, I try to go 6-for-6 on the same shotgun hull. I was new in town, and I could tell he really didn’t believe me because most shooters are like fishermen, and the big fish they catch keeps getting longer and longer as the years go by. I usually shoot at shotgun hulls with any of my .22 rimfire guns because it’s cheaper, but this time I wanted to practice a little with my new Ruger New Model Blackhawk Convertible single-action revolver, which also has a 9mm cylinder. I loaded it with .357 Magnum ammo and shot at the first shotgun hull about 15 feet away—I made a rookie mistake and missed! The bullet hit the ground under the target. I hadn’t been shooting in over a year and failed to mentally adjust my aim to shoot over the target for the first few yards because the distance was less than my first zero. When a gun is fired, even though the sights are aimed directly at the target, the muzzle of the gun is pointed at a spot lower than the target. The muzzle starts rising while the bullet is still in the barrel, and the bullet is launched in an upward trajectory. The bullet’s flight will start below the line of sight and, in about 5 yards, will rise through the line of sight (the first zero). It will then rise above the line of sight for the rest of the arc of flight and then drop down to hit the bullseye on the target at its second zero. I sight in all of my iron-sighted handguns at 25 yards, and at distances over 25 yards, you naturally have to aim over the target. Well, back to shooting—I hit the shotgun hull with my second shot and then missed the same shotgun hull with my third shot. I joked that I hadn’t been shooting in over a year and was pretty rusty. I have to admit that, with all the talk about my fancy shooting, the thought that I might embarrass myself did cross my mind. I hit the shotgun hull with my fourth shot, and it landed farther away. I hit the shotgun hull with my fifth shot, and it landed even farther away. I finally redeemed myself by hitting the same shotgun hull with my sixth and final shot. Bill and I stepped it off, and we measured the hull to be almost exactly 40 yards away when I shot and hit it. I tried to make excuses for missing because I had not shot any gun in over a year and was not warmed up, but Bill said what was even more impressive was the fact that I was that accurate before any warm-up shots.
Along with Bill Johnson, I also did several 6-for-6 shotgun hull shooting demos for other shooters at the local range, including Jack DeLand. The other day, Del Newman, a local hunter and avid outdoorsman, reminded me that I shot 6-for-6 several times while he watched.
Later that summer, a friend from back east came to visit, and the conversation eventually turned to shooting. He mentioned that he wanted to shoot a couple of my big revolvers. I chose my 454 Casull and my Ruger .44 Magnum and headed to the range. As usual, I didn’t bring any targets, but my friend said he had two Coke cans that had been in his car's trunk for several months. We set them up about 80 yards away near some steel posts where people used to hang targets. He shot the .44 Magnum and missed. I shot the .44 Magnum and hit the can. Next, he shot the .454 Casull and missed, and I shot the .454 Casull and hit the Coke can. Later that evening, we went to one of the local bars for a beer. When we sat at the bar, I sat on my friend's left, and another guy was seated on his right. After a little conversation, my friend turned to tell the other guy about his trip to the shooting range that afternoon. He said that he set up a couple of Coke cans 80 yards away and hit the first with his .44 Magnum and the second with his .454 Casull. WAIT A MINUTE! He was telling a story about my shooting to the guy on his right while I was sitting on his left. INCREDIBLE! Did my friend think I was deaf or invisible? I never mentioned anything about that to my friend, but I started to doubt some of his stories. That was way too funny!
When I moved to South Dakota, the first person I wanted to meet was the local FFL (Federal Firearms License) dealer, John Broadbent, who quickly became one of my best friends. John would arrive at the local coffee shop at noon, when about 10 locals gathered for coffee every day, and leave around 2:00 pm. Anyone wanting to buy or transfer a gun always contacted him. John Broadbent was one of the most honest and fair men I have ever met. I purchased and transferred many guns through him without ever asking about the price. I used to have coffee with the locals every day. Eventually, I moved up in the pecking order to the head of the table across from John, and all 10 of us exchanged stories—some more truthful than others. One day, I told the group that I bought an autographed model of a lever-action rifle for $2495. They began asking numerous questions, and finally I had to reveal that the autograph was “Red Ryder” and that I bought the rifle on sale from Walmart for $24.95. My mother would never let me have a BB gun while I was growing up, so finally, to complete my collection, I just had to have the first gun I ever wanted, and it shoots great.
My friend Jens Hansen, a founding member of the Coal Springs Antique Club, along with another friend, Lloyd Ransom, and the club's other members, are genuinely honest people. Around 2017, I bought ten raffle tickets for the Coal Springs Antique Club's annual fundraiser. I simply wrote my name and my Ontario, California, cell phone number, which I’ve had for the last 40 years, on the tickets. About two months later, a man I didn’t yet know, named Jens Hansen, called to tell me that the raffle had taken place and that I had won the top prize, a Henry lever-action .22 rimfire rifle. Since we weren’t acquainted, we spent a few minutes getting to know each other. I had lived in the Los Angeles area for 40 years before moving to northwest South Dakota in 2011. Jens Hansen was curious about where I lived since my Ontario, California, phone number was on the raffle ticket. I could tell he was relieved when he found out I lived nearby, rather than several states away, which would have meant shipping the rifle. A few days later, Jens Hansen and I met, and he handed me the rifle. I joked that the winning raffle ticket might have been drawn because the name was unfamiliar and the phone number was from Ontario, California, and that they might have just thrown out my ticket and drawn another one. Overall, I believe rural people are generally more honest than so-called city folks.
Whenever I’m with a group of guys I don’t know, and the topic turns to guns, there always seems to be someone who’s the ultimate gun expert. He’s more than willing to tell everyone that he knows it all. After a while, I like to ask someone like that if he knows anything about the .45-52 Zulu gun. Naturally, he has something to say about the .45-52 Zulu gun. Then I take the opportunity to mention that I have a chance to buy the gun, but it seems like it’ll use a lot of ammo. I start telling him that the owner says it’s the most amazing gun you’ll ever see, and you’d have to see it to believe it. As I keep telling the story about it shooting 9 times before you can cock it and 10 times before you can stop it, everyone in the group begins to realize I’m talking about an imaginary gun, and they start making fun of the supposed gun expert. The story always gets some laughs. Some guys want to know if I could write it down for them, but it’s just easier to refer them to my website. Enjoy!
P.S. I’d like to give my heartfelt thanks to Smith & Wesson for their exceptional customer service. I shot countless .357 Magnum loads through Spanky, my S&W Model 640 revolver. After years of use, it started to loosen and occasionally spat small pieces of lead back at me. John Broadbent, my good friend and local gun dealer, sent it back to S&W for repairs. I don’t know what John wrote in his letter, but they completely overhauled the revolver. They replaced the cylinder, reshaped the forcing cone, retimed the revolver, fixed unseen issues, and even swapped out the screws that looked worn. The total cost for all these repairs was...FREE!!! I have always exclusively purchased S&W double-action revolvers because they are simply the best and go above and beyond to ensure the customer has a reliable product. In the future, to protect my little friend, I will only use .38 Special ammo for practice and load .357 Magnum ammo for things that go bump in the night. I love S&W double-action revolvers!!!
