Commentary
Welcome to the “re-launch” of brycetowsley.com. I think you will find this new and updated website full of information and entertainment. I want you to come back regularly and check in, so I plan to add more and more stuff on a regular basis. I’ll have new articles, more tips, new game recipes and, in this column, updates on what’s most interesting in my world. You will also have a chance to provide feedback and let me know what’s on your mind.

To be brutally honest, I also hope you will buy a book, video or some other item while you are here. After all, I gotta pay to keep the lights on and the kids in school. We are working to add more interesting things for sale and should have some pretty fun stuff in the future.

About this column.

To paraphrase my new least favorite president:

Let’s be clear.

This is not a blog. I will not be “blogging.” A “blog” implies that I will be writing regular columns and posting here on a fixed schedule. My lifestyle doesn’t even allow me to be sure of brushing my teeth on a regular schedule, let alone do a daily update on my web site.

But I will update this column when I have time and when, and if, I feel like it. It’s a way to keep in touch, share my opinions and keep you up to date on some of what I am doing, so it’s gotta keep changing to stay interesting and fresh.

I’ll report on any great hunting trips and on the bad ones, and you can be sure that I’ll let you know about all the problems with the airlines.
I’ll also talk about any interesting new guns or outdoor gear that I am working with and probably keep you up to date you on what triggers we are currently pulling here at Camp Towsley. This is not meant to be fair and balanced and it’s far from a complete report. But, what I hope it will be is interesting, informative and provocative.

Let me know what you think.

The Election.

November 4th, 2008. Eleven PM EST.

That was the exact moment when it was officially announced that America had gone insane.

Electing Obama president and then giving the Democrats total control of Congress is going to be the biggest disaster and greatest challenge this country has ever faced. Forget the high taxes and the economic mess this is sure to create. Never mind that we will probably be in a world war before it’s over. Ignore the impending energy shortages and the rising prices. The one big issue for us is guns and it’s not going to be pretty.

Obama owes a lot of people and some of them in Congress want our guns. The truth is, they probably want our heads on a pike in front of the Capital building for owning guns, but for now they will settle for the guns. Obama will give them whatever they want in return for their support of his agenda. I predict this it is going to get very bad for guns and gun ownership in the next four years.

But it’s not just me. I have a good friend who worked for years to build up one of the biggest “black gun” companies in the world. He sold it last year in anticipation of Obama winning this election. He believes that this administration will start with “assault weapons” first and put the civilian side of AR-15 style rifles out of business in the first year, maybe even sooner. He bet millions of dollars on that and he is a very smart guy.

A couple of things to keep in mind here. First, if you are a hunter then perhaps you don’t care about the “black guns” or handguns or whatever gun you do not use for hunting. But, remember, if you don’t fight for those who do enjoy those firearms, they will not fight for you. We need to all stick together on this. Sooner or later they will come for the guns you do own, so don’t think that throwing them a bone with AR rifles, semi-automatic handguns, high capacity magazines, sniper rifles, 50-caliber rifles or whatever the target of the month happens to be, will make them go away. They will only go away when American citizens are no longer allowed to legally own firearms. Every time we give them a victory we let them move that much closer to the final goal.

Remember this?

In Germany, they first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic.

Then they came for me -- and by that time there was nobody left to speak up.

-Martin Niemoller

Here is my version:

In America, they first came for the “assault rifles, and I didn't speak up because I didn’t own one and thought they were scary looking.

Then they came for the semi-auto handguns, and I didn't speak up because I was a bird hunter and only had shotguns.

Then they came for the pump action shotguns, and I didn't speak up because mine were double barrels.

Then they came for the ammo and I didn't speak up because they didn’t include birdshot.

Then they came for my guns -- and by that time there was nobody left to speak up.


We all need to stick together here. Our motto must be, “There are no bad guns” and we need to fight to preserve the right to own all guns. Like Ben Franklin said after signing the Declaration of Independence, "We must all hang together, or most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."

This is not about crime and never was. It’s about you and me and the freedom we enjoy in this unique country. I am a hard working citizen who pays his taxes and plays by the rules. I do not commit crimes, other than occasionally exceeding the speed limit. No gun that I own and shoot has ever been involved in a crime and most likely never will be. Yet I own guns that Obama, Biden and other Democrats want to ban. You have to ask yourself why?

Freedom cannot survive without the ability to fight back against tyranny. That’s the real meaning of the 2nd Amendment. If the government is scared of me owning a firearm, good. That’s the point the founding fathers were making. If Obama doesn’t trust me with my guns, I damn sure don’t trust him with his.

Sorry to launch this new web site on so dismal a note, but this is important and we need to start spreading the word now, before it starts.

But, I can’t end without some gun stuff. If you have read my articles in the outdoor and gun magazines for very long then you probably know that I am a big fan of 35-caliber rifles. Mark Bansner www.bansnersrifle.com finally completed my .358 WSM and I used it in early October to shoot an elk and an antelope, which pretty well covers both ends of the spectrum for critter size.

My rifle is based on a Winchester Model 70 short action rifle, and my load uses a 225-grain Trophy Bonded bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2,944 feet per second. On a good day, it will shoot sub half-inch groups when I hold the gun still.

I shot an elk in Colorado, where it broke both shoulders and exited. Which is exactly the kind of raw, hit them with a big hammer, power I was looking for. Then a couple of days later I took an antelope in Wyoming with the same results, although that wasn’t much of a surprise.

Most people would laugh at the concept of a .358 for long range work. But remember, it is pushing a 225 grain bullet as fast as a .300 Winchester Magnum launches a 180-grain bullet. With a 200 yard zero this cartridge is 1.7 inches high at 100 yards and 7.6 inches low at 300 yards. Stay tuned, I have a lot more planned for this rifle and I’ll keep you all up to date as it happens.

One of the great joys of my life in the past year has been the discovery of 3-gun competition. This is action style shooting with rifle, pistol and shotgun. It encompasses just about every shooting scenario you can imagine from up close and very fast to long range, precision rifle work on small targets. It’s all about speed and it comes down to whoever hits all the targets the fastest, wins the match.

We use AR-15 style rifles in .223 Remington for this shooting and with three of us shooting them here at Camp Towsley we need lots of ammo. Practice sessions and the matches can eat up a lot of bullets, which means that means the Dillon progressive reloader stays busy. The problem is the limited supply of brass. This keeps dwindling every time we shoot, particularly when most matches don’t allow us to recover it.

I recently was at the annual Remington Writer’s Seminar and as most gun guys know they are now in the AR business. They have the Remington R-15 and R-25 rifles and their sister companies Bushmaster and DPMS are probably two of the biggest names in black guns. So at the end of a day of shooting all these guns, the writers left a big mess. There was empty brass everywhere you looked and I saw it as my civic duty to pick it all up. I put it in a box and had it shipped to my office and for the past three days my brass cleaners have been running non stop. Like Midas with his gold, I just can’t help going down to the reloading area and running my fingers through the buckets of brass. Life is good and if you are a handloader you will understand.

Now if I can just get somebody to load it all for me!

I saw an interesting T-shirt the other day:

“Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms” should be a convenience store, not a government agency!

Speaking of black guns. For a lot of years they simply didn’t interest me. Then I started shooting them and discovered two things. First, that they are the nearly perfect rifle. They are accurate, reliable and easy to work on. The options are limitless and you can use one basic “lower” to build everything from a long range precision target rifle to a short carbine for home defense. They are good for hunting, competition, self defense and for just plain having fun pulling triggers. The second thing is that shooting them is as much fun as you can have and still stay legal and keep your clothes on.

If you don’t have one, correct that flaw before it’s too late.

Until the next time. Remember, “There are no bad guns,” just bad politicians.

     

© The Outside Connection Inc. - 2008