Search Results for ‘educational zone’

When Thunder Ranch was located in Texas, I attended Defensive Handgun I, Defensive Handgun II, and Urban Rifle classes there over the years. I was hoping to be able to attend a Defensive Shotgun class, but they moved to Oregon before I could schedule the class. I was surely disappointed. Some...

"The M-1 Rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised." Those words sum up the opinion of General George Patton regarding the M-1 Garand rifle. Many will agree with him, at least up until that point in history. The M-1 Garand rifle was developed by John C, Garand in 1936 to replace the...

A while back, Tman and I ordered a few Mosin rifles that we refinished. Here's a picture of my two. They both shot "Okay", but nothing very impressive. I shot the top one today and here's a sample of the groups we got at 50 yards shooting Russian 1949 Light Ball. As you can see, nothing to...

The FN-FAL is a 7.62 X 51 NATO, self-loading, selective fire, battle rifle. The letters stand for Fabrique Nationale - Fusil Automatique Léger (Light Automatic Rifle), or as it is more commonly known, the FN-FAL or simply as the FAL. This fine rifle was designed by the Belgian company FN...

A while back, my friend Kikilee told me: "Here's the deal. I have a new in the box, 30 year old (warranty card dated 1978), .45 cal, Philadelphia Derringer kit. This is one of those CVA build it yourself jobs. It even comes with 100 .45 cal lead balls. I will send this to you absolutely free...

In Part One we built a Philadelphia Derringer from a kit. Today, we will see how it shoots. I will also be shooting a Kentucky Percussion Pistol that I built back in the early 1970's. I have often been asked just how well a black powder pistol will penetrate as compared to a modern smokeless...

During WWII, it was recognized that many rear area troops, and even front line troops with jobs that required them to carry other equipment, did not need or want to carry the heavy M-1 Garand battle rifle. The M-1 Garand weighed around 10 pounds and was large and somewhat cumbersome for use from...

I have long admired the Springfield 1903-A3 rifle. I looked for an example to add to my collection for many years. I saw a lot of good examples, but I wanted a really nice one. Then one year at the Big Houston Gun Show, I finally found the one I wanted and it was at a great price. I snatched...

My stepson, Abel, is on his spring break, so we decided to make a trip to the range. He has shot my .22 Ruger pistol before and enjoys shooting it, and has also tried a few shots out of a couple 9mm pistols. But today, he will get to meet John Browning's Finest. On the way to the range, we...

Recently, my friend Boyd asked me, "Do you think the guys would be interested in seeing my Johnson rifle?" I said, "I'm sure they would. I sure know that I'd like to shoot it." So, he met me at the range with his rifle. Here it is. The Johnson rifle was designed by Melvin Johnson and...

The M-1917 Enfield, also called The American Enfield, is a great firearm. In 1914, the British wanted more battle rifles in a very bad way. They had designed a fine rifle called the Pattern 1914 Enfield, caliber .303 British, but needed foreign contractors to build it for them. They contracted...

The Mauser rifle company started making bolt action rifles in the 1870s. We will not cover all the long and detailed history of the evolution of the 1898 Mauser, but will start our story there. In 1898, the German Army ordered rifles from Mauser that improved on many older designs. It had...

Many folks ask where they can get cheap targets for target shooting. Very nice targets are available on the internet, but when you shoot as much as I do, it can get a little expensive printing them on a printer. I was at Hobby Lobby with my lovely wife recently, and saw a stamp that was about...

Tman called me and told me that Centerfire Systems had an advertisement where we could buy 5 M44 rifles for $39.95 each. He said the ad said they were "battlefield pick-ups", had never been arsenal restored, and were sold in "as is" condition. I said, "Well, sounds like a great project to me!"...

Today, we will discuss how to properly clean a high power rifle barrel. Just a word before we start... Recent installments about how to clean other firearms caused some confusion. I am demonstrating one way to clean a rifle barrel. This is the way I do it. It is not the only way, it is just...

Today we will be looking at how to clean and lubricate an AR15 rifle or carbine. Once again, let me begin by explaining that this is one way of doing this job. It is not the only way, just one way. It is the way I have cleaned them since 1971, when I got my first variant at Fort Polk. (BTW...

I have had several folks ask me to do a post on cleaning and lubing an AK, so here goes. Before we even start, I will tell you that there are many folks that would tell you that it is not necessary to clean an AK. Tman had a friend that was in Viet Nam back in the 1970's, and he said that they...

I sure enjoy shooting my C&R rifles, especially with the cheap military surplus ammo. But some of this ammo is over 60 years old and the primers can be "hard". We were experiencing a lot of hang-fires and a lot of no-fires. I begin to wonder if the old firing pin springs in the Lee Enfields and...

When the Sistema pistols went through the system, I was able to acquire 2 of them and refinish them by painting them. They turned out really nice and are great shooters. I kept looking for another one, but they had dried up. I was disappointed. I had gone to Gander Mountain to ask my friend in...

I have long been a fan of the .44 Special round. It is an old cartridge, but a good one. This year, it is 100 years old, having been introduced in 1907. An old gun writer named Elmer Keith loved this round and did a lot of experimenting with it. He liked hot loads and loaded the .44 Special to...