Category Archives: Gun Fun

What caliber for a tire?

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Of course you don’t believe the catastrophic blowouts depicted by Hollywood when a tire is shot. But what really happens?

Kenzie Fitzpatrick has the answers and video for 9mm FMJ, .223 FMJ, and 12-Gauge, 00 Buckshot.

Too much holster time

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It’s been at least a couple months since I went to the range. Yesterday I remedied that. This was what my gun looked like when I pulled it out of the holster:

image

As I carry it every day, I knew it was going to be covered with lint.

It still functioned just fine but that was way too much holster time without being cleaned.

Boomershoot target production

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Wednesday afternoon Tim, TJay (mostly) and I began folding boxes for the targets. The boxes come as flat pieces of cardboard cut and formed in all the right places to be easily folded into a box. Here is what things looked yesterday morning:

20210430_084218

That is perhaps half of the boxes. Kim, Jacob, and I folded more boxes this morning. Others folded still more boxes during the day.

This was the target production crew this afternoon:

20210501_121025

This was the result by 5:00 PM:

20210501_164126

I think there were three more crates of targets I added after this. With the addition of those additional crates there are over 830 targets with nearly 1600 pounds of explosives.

And this doesn’t count the nearly 700 targets already consumed yesterday and today. Boomershoot is, literally, a ton of fun.

Boomershoot 2021 apparel, mugs, etc.

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The Boomershoot 2021 shirts, mugs, water bottle, drinking glass, etc. are now available for sale here.

Even if you can’t be there as a participant or even a spectator you can have a mug to remind you to prepare for next year and advertise to your friends who will want to join you next year when you partake in one of the greatest shooting adventures in the world.

Here is the image used:

BoomershootShirt2021

Don’t you just have to have a picture of Brandon realizing he was too close?

Boomershoot 2021 – sign up soon!

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Boomershoot 2021 is a go. But will you be there?

The last day for entry is April 23rd, this is six weeks away. But the Precision Rifle Clinic and Field Fire registration closes at midnight on March 31st. That is just two and a half weeks from now!

After having so many restrictions for the last year it’s time to get out and makes some noise with the rest of us!

Sign up soon so you don’t miss out:

Case dryer

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I recently purchased a Lyman Cyclone Case Dryer from Midway USA. I’m very pleased with it. I have been using a dehumidifier and homemade draining and drying rack for years. But it was frequently a bottleneck in my process. It was noisy and made the room hot. Lyman dryer will hold up to 1000 .223 cases and far more pistol cases and have them dry in less than three hours. Typically it’s about one to two hours but with a bunch of .50 BMG brass I sort of stumbled across* it took closer to three hours.

It also takes up far less space in my armory.

20210226_200300

* I might buy a .50 BMG someday and then I’ll have the brass to reload for it, right?

The Brass Exchange

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Has anyone done business with The Brass Exchange recently? That is where I used to get used brass for reloading .40 S&W and 30.06.

On September 28th, 2020 I ordered 1000 pieces of .40 S&W brass and received a confirmation of order email. My credit card was charged the same day.

As this was in the middle of the massive buying frenzy I didn’t expect it to arrive for a few weeks. But the weeks went by and I didn’t receive the order nor did I receive a tracking number.

I tried to contact them to find out the status of my order. The email bounced:

Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients.

      Subject:    Missing order.
       Sent:    12/21/2020 7:22 PM

The following recipient(s) cannot be reached:

      ‘thebrassexchange@gmail.com.’ on 12/21/2020 7:22 PM
             Server error: ‘550 <thebrassexchange@gmail.com.> invalid address ‘thebrassexchange@gmail.com.”

Phone calls were not answered.

I contacted my bank about the failure to receive the product I had paid for. They investigated for a month then told me:

Dispute Number: 19289113
Date Posted:  9/28/2020
Merchant Name: THE BRASS EXCHANGE
Amount of Transaction: 107.10
Status:   Credit is Permanent

We are pleased to let you know that the temporary credit we posted to your account for 107.10 on 12/24/2020 is now permanent.

Your dispute is now closed.

The Brass Exchange web site is still up and they claim they have product in stock. But I’m not willing to risk an order, and suggest others don’t either, unless there is reason to believe they are shipping the products ordered.

Quote of the day—Powerwagon

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Went to Boomershoot … with my son. He shot my .223 with my ballistic tip prairie dog loads while I shot a .243 also with ballistic tip bullets. What an amazing time. The .223 was killing the 375 yard targets while the .243 was in the thick of it at 600 to 700 yards. The next year, it was my son and me along with three of my brothers. The year after that, we added my son’s wife and my wife. What a fantastic family experience. It is really difficult to put into words the exhilaration that comes with successfully hitting those targets but is it ever fun!

Powerwagon
February 2, 2021
Comment to From a first time Boomershooter
[There are bunch of things about Boomershoot that have to be experienced to be appreciated.

Yesterday Keith mentioned:

700 yards is so far that you can bring your eyes up from your scope, see the detonation, and let out a holler of joy before the sound reaches you.

When you are shooting a paper target you don’t fully appreciate the time of flight involved. A spotter with a good spotting scope and watching the trace has a clue. But most people don’t have that experience either. And still the whole, pull the trigger, lift up your head, then see the column of dust and smoke erupt from the ground and then wait nearly two seconds to hear and feel the explosion is something quite different and remarkable.

Time of flight for a 700 yard target with a .308 Winchester shooting a 168 grain bullet is about 1.1 seconds. The sound arrives back at the shooter after another 1.93 seconds. From trigger pull to sound is a full three seconds.

Another thing which must be experienced is the thump to your chest. You feel the explosions as much or more than you hear it. Windows rattle and buildings shake miles away.

That’s for the one and two pound targets 375 to 700 yards away. I’ll let you imagine, if you can, what the 35 pound charge used to lift 30 gallons of gasoline into the air is like from 30 yards away:

Boomershoot 2019 Fireball from Joe Huffman on Vimeo.

Or, you could experience it for yourself.—Joe]

Gun humor

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Via email from Rolf (and Sneedus Feedus):

Garand458Winchester

Various loadings:

Bullet

Muzzle Velocity

Power Factor

300 gr (19 g)
HP

2,606 ft/s
(794 m/s)

782

350 gr (23 g)
RN

2,557 ft/s
(779 m/s)

895

400 gr (26 g)
FN

2,468 ft/s
(752 m/s)

987

500 gr (32 g)
RN

2,192 ft/s
(668 m/s)

1096

For comparison a fairly typical .300 Winchester Magnum load would be a 190 grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2900 fps for a Power Factor of 551. Or compare it to a .308 Winchester with a 168 grain bullet at 2650 fps with a PF of 445.

The semi-auto action of the Garand would help a little but I couldn’t see myself shooting that except under duress.

From a first time Boomershooter

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I made a few minor technical corrections. Other than that this is word for word from an email I received from Brian K. about his first visit to Boomershoot:

“Go ahead, shoot a few rounds!”

A kind offer from the Boomershoot attendee I was spotting for.

His spotter had to cancel last minute, so I had the novel pleasure of walking this gentleman in at 700 yards.

Now he was spotting for me!

“I should start at the 375 yard targets,” I attempted to wimp out.

“I’m already sighted in at 700 yards. Just go for those” he insisted.

Remembering everything Appleseed taught me, I fired my first round at a 7″ explosive target almost a half mile away.

Miss. But less than 10 feet off, so not terrible.

Miss. Miss. Miss. Am I going to hit *anything*?

Miss. Miss. Hit!

700 yards is so far that you can bring your eyes up from your scope, see the detonation, and let out a holler of joy before the sound reaches you.

I scored a few more hits at 700, including a single first round hit.

I learned two things at my first Boomershoot:

  1. I am capable of far more accuracy that I know
  2. I need to practice far more than I do

Thankfully Boomershoot is just three months away and there is still space on the Sunday firing line so you can discover how well you fare vs small explosive pizza boxes at half a mile.

Rounds in the last month & yearly report

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This was a very slow year. I basically stopped shooting in late December because of a work project that was really, really cool. I worked pretty much night and day, including weekends, (except for a week of vacation for our anniversary) until sometime in March. It resulted in a patent application (still pending). Then with the COVID concerns I only went to like two or three matches and not many more trips to the indoor range for practice. Hence, my ammo needs were very modest last year. Then there was the whole primer shortage thing…

I already had a fair amount .40 S&W so I spent a lot of time reloading and brass prepping for rifle ammo.

As you can see in the table below I reloaded 657 rounds of .223 last year and another 88 rounds this month. A good portion of that was using up random types of bullets that had been purchased for load testing and found lacking. They are still good for teaching new shooters at 25 yards or Boomershoot High Intensity type events. It does include a new load for a 55 grain match grade bullet that turned out well.

The 98 rounds of 30-06 were for a Garand someone was receiving as a Christmas present. I wasn’t the gift giver or receiver but since ammo in general and Garand compatible ammo in particular were next to impossible to find I purchased a few clips to add to the ammo I reloaded. I used some 168 grain Sierra Match Kings, Federal Match primers, and Varget powder (Garand load data here) which was all at least 20 years old.

The Garand went to someone who had never owned a gun! But she had expressed a strong liking for the gun saying how much she liked the way it looked and she had apparently shot one before. So… her significant other consulted with me as to what a Garand was (!) and we conspired to find and purchase one for a Christmas gift.

[Update: I’ve been informed that while in high school she drilled with a Garand in Junior ROTC.]

So now she has nearly 100 rounds of ammo for her “new” gun and if the loads work well, and she returns the brass, I could make another 150 rounds or so from components on hand.

Hitting exactly 4,000 rounds of .40 S&W in 2020 was entirely a coincidence. These were all 200 grain Black Bullet International loads. I continued this month with mostly the same load but used up some random 180 grain bullets I found laying around. I have about another 20 primers and a couple of pounds of CFE Pistol powder left. I’ll probably not load much .40 S&W for a while. Of course I’ll need primers but also I have more .40 S&W stacked up than I imagine I will use this year.

This brings my total for the year to only 4,755 rounds. This is the first time since 2014 that I didn’t reload more than 10,000 rounds.

This brings my lifetime total of rounds reloaded to 149,484. I really expected to break 150K last year but it was a special year. But this year, almost for certain, I’ll break 150K.


223 Rounds Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1998          160           –          –          –          –            –            –       140        20           –            –            –               – 
1999       1,777           –          –       181      578          25           –          –          –            –         140        653           200
2000            43           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –           43           –            –               – 
2001            47           –          –          –         47           –            –          –          –            –            –            –               – 
2016          397           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –         140        257           –               – 
2017          296           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –            –            296
2018       4,177        418      180   1,195      300           –            –          –          –            –            –      1,997             87
2019          695           –         60        80      125        216          61      111         –            –            –           42              – 
2020          657           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –         252        215           190
2021            88          88         –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –            –               – 
Total     8,337      506     240 1,456 1,050      241        61     251      20      183      649    2,907        773
30-06 Rounds Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1997 180           –          –         40        20          79          41         –          –            –            –            –               – 
1998 150           –          –          –         80           –            –          –          –            –           40           –              30
1999 90          20        70         –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –            –               – 
2003 47           –          –          –         18           –            –          –          –            –            –           29              – 
2016 76           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –           76           –            –               – 
2017 213           –          –          –          –            –            –         65      148           –            –            –               – 
2020 98           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –            –              98
Total 854        20      70      40     118        79        41      65     148        76        40        29        128
300Savage Rounds Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2018            50           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –           50              – 
Total         50        –       –       –       –         –         –       –       –         –         –         50          – 
300WIN Rounds Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1999          250           –          –          –          –            –         151        60         –            –           39           –               – 
2000          467          50      127      142         –           57           –          –          –            –           20          60             11
2001          382          25         –          –       185          15          20         –         73           –            –            –              64
2013          499           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –         100           399
2018          212           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –            –            212
2019          316        167      149         –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –            –               – 
Total     2,126      242     276     142     185        72      171      60      73        –         59      160        686
40SW Rounds Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1997            31           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –            –              31
1998     11,537        570      258      718   1,850     1,812     1,710      402         –            –      1,200        900        2,117
1999       2,795           –       894         –       299        693        506         –          –            –            –            –            403
2000       3,187        795         –          –          –            –      1,095      400      396           –         501           –               – 
2001       2,295           –       300      497      300           –            –    1,198         –            –            –            –               – 
2002          898           –          –          –          –            –            –       198         –         200        300           –            200
2003          602           –       300      302         –            –            –          –          –            –            –            –               – 
2004       1,345           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –         300        600        445              – 
2005       1,059           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –         659        400           –               – 
2006       1,000           –          –          –          –         400           –          –          –            –         200        400              – 
2007       1,136           –          –          –          –            –            –       118      518        300        200           –               – 
2008       2,398           –       300         –          –            –            –       900      399           –         200           –            599
2009       1,702           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –         102        300        900           400
2010       1,400           –          –          –          –         100        200      700         –         200           –         200              – 
2011       2,300        300         –       400      100           –         500      500      200           –            –            –            300
2012          399           –       200         –       199           –            –          –          –            –            –            –               – 
2014          530           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –            –            530
2015       7,012     1,699   1,630   1,137         –            –            –       547      200        400        100        200        1,099
2016     17,792     2,197      700   1,462      837     1,899     1,999   1,000   1,500     1,000     1,700     1,500        1,998
2017     20,840     3,300      975      525      200     1,899     3,700   2,048   2,644     2,063     1,015     1,699           772
2018     18,105           –          –          –       750     1,699        797   1,193   2,396     3,300     4,069        919        2,982
2019     11,103           –          –          –          –      2,509           –          –          –            –         691     2,117        5,786
2020       4,000           –       307         –          –         104        896      100      806        628     1,159           –               – 
2021       1,003    1,003         –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –            –               – 
Total 114,426    9,821 5,864 5,041 4,535 11,115 11,403 9,304 9,059    9,152 12,635    9,280    17,217
45ACP Rounds Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2017 2007           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –         500        1,507
Total 2007        –       –       –       –         –         –       –       –         –         –       500      1,507
9MM Rounds Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1996     11,274           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –    10,944        141           189
1997       7,374        300         –          –    1,190        640          65         –       100     1,088        804     1,060        2,127
2015       2,993           –    1,066   1,927         –            –            –          –          –            –            –            –               – 
Total    21,641      300 1,066 1,927 1,190      640        65      –      100    1,088 11,748    1,201      2,316
Yearly and Monthly Totals
Year Rounds Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1996     11,274           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –    10,944        141           189
1997       7,585        300         –         40   1,210        719        106         –       100     1,088        804     1,060        2,158
1998     11,847        570      258      718   1,930     1,812     1,710      542        20           –      1,240        900        2,147
1999       4,912          20      964      181      877        718        657        60         –            –         179        653           603
2000       3,697        845      127      142         –           57     1,095      400      396          43        521          60             11
2001       2,724          25      300      497      532          15          20   1,198        73           –            –            –              64
2002          898           –          –          –          –            –            –       198         –         200        300           –            200
2003          649           –       300      302        18           –            –          –          –            –            –           29              – 
2004       1,345           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –         300        600        445              – 
2005       1,059           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –         659        400           –               – 
2006       1,000           –          –          –          –         400           –          –          –            –         200        400              – 
2007       1,136           –          –          –          –            –            –       118      518        300        200           –               – 
2008       2,398           –       300         –          –            –            –       900      399           –         200           –            599
2009       1,702           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –         102        300        900           400
2010       1,400           –          –          –          –         100        200      700         –         200           –         200              – 
2011       2,300        300         –       400      100           –         500      500      200           –            –            –            300
2012          399           –       200         –       199           –            –          –          –            –            –            –               – 
2013          499           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –         100           399
2014          530           –          –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –            –            530
2015     10,005     1,699   2,696   3,064         –            –            –       547      200        400        100        200        1,099
2016     18,265     2,197      700   1,462      837     1,899     1,999   1,000   1,500     1,216     1,957     1,500        1,998
2017     23,356     3,300      975      525      200     1,899     3,700   2,113   2,792     2,063     1,015     2,199        2,575
2018     22,544        418      180   1,195   1,050     1,699        797   1,193   2,396     3,300     4,069     2,966        3,281
2019     12,114        167      209        80      125     2,725          61      111         –            –         691     2,159        5,786
2020       4,755           –       307         –          –         104        896      100      806        628     1,411        215           288
2021       1,091     1,091         –          –          –            –            –          –          –            –            –            –               – 
Grand Totals 149,484 10,932 7,516 8,606 7,078 12,147 11,741 9,680 9,400 10,499 25,131 14,127    22,627

Imagine Boomershoot 2021

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To the best of my knowledge Boomershoot is the last publicly accessible “dynamite shoot” in the country and perhaps the world. For 40 years there were one or two each year in Gateway Colorado. June 8, 2019 was their last one. Cancellation details are here.

There were a few shoots in Missouri back in the 2006 timeframe. But they have been gone for a long time.*

There are some explosives and fireballs at Knob Creek each year. But there aren’t 1,500 or more targets consuming over a ton of explosives.

Via “(no attribution, please)”:

Imagine:

On July 4th 2021, Congress passes the America’s Freedom From Fear Act.

It prohibits all gatherings of 5 or more people when shooting firearms, outside of sanctioned shooting range events and licensed hunting events.

You would now risk jail time if you went to Boomershoot in 2022, and Joe would risk far more jail time to host the event. Boomershoot is toast.

How will you feel about how you spent April 30th to May 2nd 2021, The Last Boomershoot?

There’s still space available.

Don’t wait.

We’ve had a surprising number people sign up this month. There was nothing since at least early April. Then starting on January 3rd.through today there were 11 different positions reserved or people added to existing positions,

There are still 28 positions left and if the weather cooperates I can make space for a couple more. If you are thinking you might need an opportunity to hone your long range rifle skills this is the place and time. The earthshaking, echoing, thunder of a Boomershoot target is most pleasurable feedback I know of for connecting your bullet with a target.

* There is a very sad story to go with this. It’s not really appropriate Internet material but I’d be glad to share if you ask me about it face-to-face sometime.

Quote of the day—Kevin Maxwell

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In my legal opinion the Rare Breed Triggers FRT is a perfectly legal, semi-automatic, drop-in trigger. And my opinion is further supported by the opinions of whom I believe to be two of the most significant subject matter experts in the industry.

Rare Breed Triggers FRT – Full Video from RARE BREED TRIGGERS on Vimeo.

Kevin Maxwell
December 2, 2020
[As Greg said in a private post on Facebook:

pretty genius, I doubt it will last long on the market.

If you’re into this type of fun then get them while they last!

FRT is an acronym standing for “Forced Reset Trigger”. And that tells you all you need to know to have your giggle box kicked over.

We live in interesting times.—Joe]

Quote of the day—NRA @NRA

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[Or just have an honest relationship with your spouse and put the gun you want on your wish list.—Joe]

Transparent aluminum

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Interesting. I didn’t know transparent aluminum has been around since 1980. And I always thought it was science fiction in 1986:

Still, it’s very cool stuff. 1.6” (4 cm) can stop a .50 BMG AP round.

Stretched necks

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Long ago and far away (20+ years and 300+ miles) I was just starting to reload rifle rounds. I probably wasn’t using the proper lubrication and I got a 30-06 case stuck in this die:

image

I concluded it was impossible to get the case out and I went to the local gun shop to see if they had a replacement die I could purchase. The owner of the store, a wise and knowledgeable man, suggested I order a case extraction tool rather than purchase a new die. I did so, but it took far longer for the tool to arrive than I had patience for and I got another die anyway. A neck resizing only die.

When the tool did arrive I was looked at the situation and realized I needed to drill out the primer pocket (drill provided with the tool), tap the resultant hole (tap provided), use a cup like piece of metal with a hole in the “bottom” through which a bolt was screwed into the base of the shell casing, then tighten the bolt to pull the case out of the die. That should work! Except for one problem. The depriming pin and expander ball were inside the case and blocking the drilling and tapping operations. I was unable to remove them from the case up through the top. In fact you can see the broken top of the spindle (is that the correct word for this?) in the picture above from my attempts to unscrew it from the die. I didn’t really need the full length resizing die at the time and left the stuck case in the die.

20+ years later I started to reload 30-06 again and I needed to do full length resizing with some used brass I had purchased a year or so ago. I got out the full length resizing die and discovered the stuck case. Crap. As I shuffled through my die supplies I stumbled across the case removal tool and reevaluated the situation. I really needed to figure out how to get the depriming pin and expander ball out of the case. After way too long I realized something.

In the picture you will see four different knurled sections to the die. The top two are associated with the spindle. I removed these, squirted some case lube into the top of the die, turned the second one upside down so that it didn’t thread itself back into the die main body and tightened it up. It was a hard pull but the expander ball came back up through the case which had been stuck for 20+ years.

I drilled and tapped base of the case and successfully extracted the case with the case extraction tool I had purchased so many years ago. See the case on the left below compared to the normal case in the center:

image

I expressed my joy and cleverness to Barb, reassembled the die, adjusted it, lubed up a bunch of cases and started resizing them. On about the fourth case I stupidly picked up an lubed case sitting on the bench and got it stuck.

This time it only took about 10 minutes, instead of 20+ years, to get the case out. See the case on the right above.

What I found most interesting was that the stuck cases had necks which were stretched a full 0.150 inches. Previously stuck cases on the left and right compared to a normal case in the center:

image

Black Friday sale on Insights Training

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Almost all of my training has been through Insights. I highly recommend them. They are having a sale on their training. Here are the details:

Your mission this weekend: save on training

The more you buy the more you save!

1 day $245/day
2 days $240/day
3 days $235/day
4 days $230/day
5 days $225/day
6 days $220/day
7 days $215/day
8 days $210/day
9 days $205/day
10+ days $200/day

Follow this link to Black Friday goodness…

Prices go up $25 per day in 2021, but you can save up to $75 per day. With this deal you’re training even cheaper than 2020!

2021 Classes will be posted on the website very soon

We know ammo is going to be an ongoing problem so we will start allowing 22LR for a portion of our mainline classes. We will have .22LR ammo available, .22LR conversion kits, .22LR semi-autos, plus we’re working on an ammo deal to be able to provide 9mm at a reasonable price.
We will be running:
Basic Handgun
General Defensive Handgun
Handgun Fundamentals
Intermediate Defensive Handgun
AR-15 Fundamentals
Home Defense Tactics
Street and Vehicle Tactics
Plus some cool new classes:
Pistol Caliber Carbine
General Purpose Rifle
Battle Rifle
Precision Rifle Prep
IDPA/USPSA Prep
Direct Action – Dynamic Clearing
Urban Operations – Surveillance
and more!

The fine print: Offer ends at end of day Monday, November 30, 2020, and is not valid for “Red Dawn” classes. Training day funds are valid for tuition only and do not include additional equipment or rentals. To use your sale funds for a class, please call the office to register.
For more information about all of our classes, visit InSightsTraining.com . To register, go to the website, call us at 425.827.2552 or email us at: info@insightstraining.com.
Stay safe and we’ll see you in class!

Copyright © 2020 InSights Training Center, All rights reserved.

The primer story

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There are multiple factors contributing to the shortage of primers. I had previously heard or assumed most of them in the following post. But the Remington component to “The Great Primer Shortage of 2020.” was new to me.

From Powder Valley, Why Is There a Primer Supply Shortage?

Demand, however, is just one part of the story. Disruptions in the supply chain have also made a big impact on the availability of primers. When it comes to ammunition supplies, bullets are easy to manufacture, brass can be re-used, and powder is generally stockpiled by companies (though perhaps not the kind you’re looking for). This leaves primers, which are relatively difficult to make, as the component that causes the bulk of ammo shortages.

In the U.S., only four companies (Winchester, Remington, Federal, and CCI) manufacture primers for civilian use, law enforcement, and the military. Even under perfect circumstances, there’s only so much they can produce at once, and needless to say, circumstances have not been perfect during the pandemic. People getting sick, missing work to take care of their kids, and self-quarantining – from factory workers to delivery drivers, and all throughout the supply chain – caused a lull in manufacturing this spring.

The Remington bankruptcy has had a large impact on the shortage of ammo and primers.  With Remington in a state of financial insolvency for the past two years, suppliers were demanding payment upon delivery for products.  Remington simply did not have the financial capabilities to have an abundance of raw materials on hand and had to shutter some of their production capacity.  Barnes bullets and primers were hit particularly hard in the reloading market.  With the recent purchase of Remington by Vista, there is a good chance that Vista will be diverting CCI and Federal primers that would typically go to reloaders to Remington ammunition production.  Remington primer production capacity has never been great.  The hope would be that Vista will place more emphasis on getting the Remington primer production capacity increased substantially and quickly.

Quote of the day—Chris Metz

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We currently have over a year’s worth of orders for ammunition in excess of $1 billion. With demand far outstripping supply and inventory levels in the channel at all-time lows, we see strong demand continuing, and this metric informs our viewpoint of what a recovery or normalization could look like.

Chris Metz
CEO of Vista Outdoor Inc.
November 5, 2020
Vista Outdoors reports ammunition backlog of over $1B
[We live in interesting times.—Joe]